


Werewolf Bites, Love, and Other Deadly Things

by questionableatbest



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-22 10:48:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6076491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/questionableatbest/pseuds/questionableatbest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roe is a muggle nurse, recruited to the Order of the Phoenix because of her unique ability to successfully treat werewolf bites. Sirius is stir-crazy, and looking for just about anything to take his mind off of his confinement. Working together forces them to (reluctantly) get to know one another, even when the war going on outside threatens to tear them apart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Roe was well into her second shift straight, which wasn't exactly uncommon.

The hospital was severely understaffed, and the nurses bore the brunt of that. Of course, it wasn't normally like this. However, the start of the summer marked the beginning of the hospital's busiest two months in history, and those records didn't show any signs of slowing down.

People had been coming in with unexplainable injuries- ones that were, as a result, nearly impossible to treat. One particularly gruesome case involved a middle aged man whose femur had seemingly disappeared from his leg, with no exit wound or broken flesh at all. He had no memory of the event.

Of course, not everything was that bad, and she still had her normal patients to worry about. There was Jack Smith in room 809, with the broken leg, and Mrs. Vander in room 834, recovering from a hip replacement, and about a million other patients for her to see after that.

She was on her way to Leighton Tingley's room to change her bandages when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something unusual moving towards the staircase.

She opted to follow it rather than calling security, and was glad when she did.

Rounding the corner, she recognized the old man with the long silver hair and even longer beard, and half-moon spectacles, dressed in his usual, strange attire.

"Dumbledore," she said cautiously, pausing and leaving a great deal of space in between them. "There's been another attack then, has there?"

"No, not at this time of the cycle, I would surely hope," he replied, voicing exactly what she had been thinking. "Though, things are quite restless at the moment; not much would surprise me anymore, I'm afraid."

"Then why are you here?" Roe asked, deciding to brush past the cryptic part of his statement, as she normally did. He was a strange man, and she'd long ago accepted that she would never understand most of the things he said.

"There are some people I want you to meet."

"I can't go right now," Roe said, hands on her hips and head tilted to the side, trying to sound apologetic and likely failing. "I've got patients that need me, so unless this is a matter of life or death…"

She finished with a shrug that he regarded for several seconds, before he nodded his head slightly. "Very well. When will you be done?"

Supposedly, five hours ago, she thought to herself, while checking her watch. "Eight o'clock tonight."

"We'll meet here then," Dumbledore said, leaving no room for disagreement this time, as he disappeared- apparated, as he called it- right in front of her, leaving her to shake her head and get back to work.

/

While a meeting of the Order was technically in session, Sirius opted to stick to the back corner of the kitchen, occasionally listening in, but not adding much to the conversation.

The current discussion was generating much more controversy than normal, which he was fine with; his old house didn't hold much in the way of entertainment, and watching Hestia and McGonagall go at it was as good as anything else.

"We can't bring a muggle into the Order," Hestia protested for what felt like the millionth time, her high pitched voice grating at Sirius' ears, as she continually came up with more ways to sound like a complete moron.

"We've already got a squib and a werewolf- no offense, Remus, of course- would a muggle really be that terrible?" McGonagall countered, an eyebrow raised and her voice taking on her most scolding, superior tone, which happened to be one that Sirius knew well.

"Well I should think so," Hestia insisted, slamming her fist on the table to accentuate her disbelief, "The girl can't protect herself- and muggles are easily manipulated. She can't be trusted with our secrets- she could go blabbing them to the world."

"You are aware that we're talking about a grown woman, correct? From your description, you'd think we were inviting a toddler to join," McGonagall spat back in a dry tone, her lips pursed together as she let out a sigh of disbelief, before turning back to Dumbledore and sending him a look that said, 'put an end to this, before I do.'

"Minerva is right, Hestia," Dumbledore said then, drawing the Order's attention back to him, much to Sirius' disappointment; listening to him drone on and on was nowhere near as much fun as watching McGonagall loose her temper, after all. "The girl will be a great asset to us; one that we cannot afford to pass on, no matter the risks that her involvement may bring."

So they were bringing a muggle into the Order. That was sure to be interesting, Sirius thought to himself, tuning out the rest of the meeting, which mostly included Snape bragging about his work (which seemed pathetically stagnant to Sirius), and Hestia making petty comments to anybody who would listen.

He didn't tune in until, just as the meeting was being adjourned, Dumbledore spoke again.

"Nymphadora, if you wouldn't mind picking Rosemary up tonight, I would greatly appreciate it," he said, handing her a torn up bit of a scroll, which Tonks studied for a moment before she burnt it.

"Got it, sir," she said amicably, smiling at him until he nodded and then turned to Remus.

"Mr. Lupin, you're the most familiar with the plan. I won't be here tonight when she arrives. She'll have many questions, and I trust that you'll answer them."

"Of course," Lupin agreed quickly, nodding his head seriously. That was enough for Dumbledore, who looked over the people at the table one last time, before he promptly turned to leave.

Sirius was about to ask his friend for more information about the plan that he was only just hearing of, but Remus turned to Tonks before he got a chance. "Tonks, are you sure you should be going alone?"

His younger cousin rolled her currently-purple eyes at that, and laughed off his old friends concern. "I'll be fine; I'm retrieving one muggle- what could go wrong?"

"Loads of things, actually," Remus said to that, which only made Tonks laugh again, prompting a small smile onto Remus' face, which he quickly hid.

"He's right, you know," Sirius jumped in then, "Perhaps I should escort you."

Remus sent him an exasperated look at that, while Tonks simply rolled her eyes again. "It's a muggle hospital in the middle of nowhere; I'll be fine," she insisted, accidentally giving away just the information that Sirius needed.

"Of course you will," he nodded his head at that, before smiling slightly at the girl and reaching out to ruffle her bright pink hair. "You're all grown up now, I suppose."

"Yeah, and don't go forgetting it," Tonks said, ducking away from his hand and punching his arm lightly, before sending a last smile in Remus' direction and heading out the door, towards the kitchen.

When she was gone, Remus turned back to him with his eyes narrowed and a knowing look on his face. "Do not do anything stupid tonight."

"I'm offended that you would even suggest it," Sirius said, one of his hands finding his heart and hovering over it, while he widened his eyes and tried his best to look innocent, not fooling his oldest friend at all. "I'm also offended that you've been in cahoots with Dumbledore and left me out."

"Up until now this plan was highly confidential; it still is," Remus said, pursing his lips together which only served to make him look older and more tired. "And whatever idiotic plan you've thought up for tonight, I want nothing to do with it."

Sirius smiled widely at that, and winked at Lupin, finally prompting a smile onto his face. "Whatever you say, old friend," he said, patting the other man on his back, before he turned away and headed towards the library, to get some research in.

/

By the time her shift ended, Roe had caught her second- or maybe third, or fourth, or fifth- wind, and was feeling fine again, if not slightly jumpy from all the coffee she'd consumed. She swung by her locker and grabbed her bag, before she went to meet Dumbledore. She still wasn't entirely sure she wanted to meet any of his friends, but she also didn't think she had a choice in the matter.

Still, she was surprised to find that, when she got back to the hallway where they'd met only hours before, he was nowhere to be found and, in his place, was a girl about her age and height, with bright pink hair.

"You're Rosemary, then?" the girl asked, eyebrows raised, before a smile grew on her face. "You look just like Dumbledore said."

"He sent you?" she countered as way of response, eying the girl up and down, and trying to figure out if she should trust her. She didn't look particularly dangerous at first glance, but there was a spark in her eye that made her seem bigger than she was, and the tip of a thin stick was pointing out of her sleeve. Looks could definitely be deceiving.

"Yup; he's a busy man- couldn't make it himself, but here I am. A bunch of the others are waiting at the house," the girl explained, before she stuck out a hand. "I'm Tonks."

"He's never sent anybody else before," Roe said, ignoring the girls' introduction and outstretched hand entirely, while biting her lip and taking a step back. The closest stairwell was just behind her to the left and, if she got there, she was pretty sure she could make a run for it.

"Right- yes, he did mention that," Tonks said abruptly, before a light went off in her eyes and she quickly started talking again, listing off things that she could only know for one reason. "You've known Dumbledore for three years. A day after you met him, you saved Marcus Bigby's life. The first time he apparated with you, you vomited all over him, and then yelled at him for twenty minutes. Sound about right?"

Roe didn't say anything right away, but her shoulders relaxed and she stopped planning her escape. "I go by Roe," she finally said, accepting that she could trust the woman and getting a smile in response.

"Right th-"

Tonks was cut off by the sound of a sharp crack filling the air, and suddenly there was a man standing just to her left. He had a mess of long, dark hair, and his clothes were somehow both old fashioned and stylish, and his face bore the craziest smile she'd ever seen, which only grew when he dodged a punch from Tonks.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" the girl yelled, though she sounded more frustrated than angry, which Roe took as a sign that she shouldn't be too scared. "I told you, I can handle this, and you can't be here."

"Oh calm down, Nymphy," the man replied easily, a smile still playing on his face, "I'm just checking in on you- you were only supposed to be gone 15 minutes and it's been… 18, by my count. You never can be too safe these days. Say, are there any dark wizards around for me to fight?"

"You. Can't. Be. Here." Tonks repeated, accenting each word with a swat to the man's head, which he eventually ducked away from and, in turn, ended up standing just in front of Roe.

"I'll take that as a no on the dark wizards then," the man muttered and, if Roe wasn't mistaken, he sounded slightly disappointed. Despite the assault he was facing from Tonks, he relaxed, though he raised his eyebrows when his gaze landed on Roe.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" she asked, unimpressed with the elevator eyes he was casting towards her, and his general demeanor; namely, she thought he was mad.

"Sirius Black, at your service," the man said lavishly, with a half-smile and a wink that she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows at.

"For Merlin's sake Sirius, if you wanted to flirt with her that badly you could have just waited until I'd brought her to headquarters," Tonks continued to scold him, despite the fact that he looked to be at least 10 years her senior and was not taking her seriously at all. Overall, the affect would have been comical, if Roe still didn't still fear for her life.

"Who is he?" Roe asked again, ignoring the man entirely and turning to face Tonks, who apparently caught onto the look of fear in Roe's eye, and finally gave her a straight answer.

"My cousin. Who is supposed to be in hiding," she said, directing the last of the sentence towards the man, who didn't looked concerned about it at all.

"Oh come on Nymphy, live a little; it's not like the Ministry's got eyes on some dingy muggle hospital in the middle of nowhere- I'd say this place is probably even safer for me than headquarters."

"Don't call me that," Tonks hissed, anger flashing over her face for a moment, before she took a deep breath and let it out, and then turned her back on him entirely. "And you know what? Fine. I don't care. You can explain it to Dumbledore and the rest of the Order; it's not my problem. Roe- let's go."

She sighed, as this was always her least favourite part. "Do we have to apparate?" she asked, still not used to the method of transportation, no matter how many times she was forced to use it.

Tonks smiled at her then, the look filled with sympathy, before she took a step forward and grabbed onto her arm. "It'll be over before you know it," she said, though Roe easily read through the lie.

She could hear Sirius saying something along the lines of, "That's what you're complaining about?" but moments later it all disappeared into a crack.

\\\

The second Roe felt her feet hit solid ground she ripped her arm from Tonks' grip and, in the process, threw herself into a wall. She landed with a thump and felt something topple to the ground beside her, but she didn't have a chance to see what it was, as the hallways then filled with shrill, deafening screams, and she immediately covered her ears.

'Filthy mudblood scum in my house, tainting my name, brought a muggle…'

The cries only lasted a moment longer before a furious looking woman with bright red hair appeared in a doorway a few feet away, and stormed down the hallway. The screaming stopped moments later, and the woman reappeared looking frazzled but calmer.

"Well then, you must be Rosemary; Dumbledore's told us all about you, of course," she said, though Roe was no longer paying attention to her. Instead, she was focused on the crowd growing behind the woman, predominantly made up of red haired children.

There were a million questions she now had, but one that seemed more pressing. "What was that?"

"Just a rather nasty portrait," the woman brushed it off, and most of the group nodded in agreement, though they were also staring at Roe like she was an exhibit in a zoo. The woman seemed to notice, as she turned to them then. "You all, off to your rooms; this is Order business, after all. Get."

One of the taller boys turned around to face the rest of the group. "You heard your mother; this is top secret, adults only business."

Another boy, who looked identical to the first, added, "Yeah, come on now, this is not for the faint of heart- and I'm talking about you, Ronald. Merlin knows that description never fit Ginny."

The only girl with red hair smiled, while another one of the boys simply rolled his eyes. The woman did not look impressed. "You two are included in that. Get to your room."

The twins looked at each other for a moment before they decided that the fight wasn't worth it, and disappeared with a loud 'crack.' The rest of the children took the stairs.

Once they were gone, the older woman turned back to Roe. "Right then, you look absolutely exhausted; practically dead on your feet. Let's get you something to eat."

Before she could protest, a hand was on her back and she was being swept into a kitchen and placed in a chair. A plate of muffins appeared in front of her, and she realized just how hungry she actually was.

Tonks sat beside her and grabbed one off the plate as well, before Molly came back with tea, milk, and sugar.

"Now I don't know how you take yours, but here you go- this should do you fine. And let me just see what else we have in the fridge- somebody really does need to go shopping but-"

"Molly, she's fine," Tonks interrupted kindly but firmly, stopping the older woman in her tracks, "Really, we don't need to smother her. The others will be here any minute, anyways."

"Others?" Roe jumped in, hoping to finally get some answers about where they were and what was going on.

"The rest of the Order," Tonks explained, as if the words were supposed to mean something to her.

Unfortunately, before Roe could ask for further clarification, two men strolled into the kitchen. The first was shabby looking, with brown hair tinged with grey and faded but prominent lines on his face that appeared to be scars. He smiled as he entered, and took a seat at the table across from Roe. The other man, she recognized as Sirius Black.

/

Apparating into the library hadn't been Sirius' best idea, especially because Remus had been waiting for him. Still, dealing with Remus' disapproving looks and thinly veiled amusement was much better than dealing with the scorn of Molly Weasley.

"You know how stupid of you that was, correct?" Remus asked quietly, as they were making their way down the stairs and to the kitchen.

"All's well that ends well, old friend."

Sirius could practically feel Remus roll his eyes at that, but neither of them said anything else and, moments later, they made their way into the kitchen, where the muggle girl was sitting at the table.

Molly excused herself from the room, but not before she sent a disapproving glare in Sirius' direction that told him she knew exactly what he'd done.

"Rosemary, it's a pleasure to meet you," Remus started, as soon as the door shut, taking a step towards the table and reaching a hand out to shake.

For his part, Sirius simply sat down, taking in the scene in front of him. The girl tentatively returned the handshake, and corrected him. "It's Roe."

"Right," Remus nodded his head, diplomatic as ever, "Roe then, it's a pleasure. I'm Remus Lupin, and I believe you've already met Sirius?"

Sirius couldn't stop himself from winking at her, and she snorted in response.

Remus ignored the exchange entirely and continued. "Do you know why we've brought you here?"

"Well, I highly doubt it's in a misguided attempt to make new friends," Roe said dryly, getting wry smiles from everybody at the table.

"Not exactly," Remus said, before cutting to the chase. "Dumbledore tells us that you can effectively treat werewolf induced wounds?"

The girl only nodded at that, and Sirius felt himself sitting up a little bit straighter. "Do tell," he prompted, drawing the attention at the table to him. "How does it work? Wizards have been trying for ages, so how does one muggle figure it out?"

Something in her eyes flared and for a moment Sirius thought she was angry, but she simply shrugged. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Nobody knew what to say to that. For his part, Sirius kept studying her, trying to see if she would give anything else away, but her face remained stoically impassive and eventually Tonks interrupted the silence.

"That's a bit beside the point at the moment," she said reasonably, getting appreciative looks from Remus and Roe in the process. "The point is, is that she can do it, and that we need her because of it."

"Thank you Tonks," Remus said gratefully, sending a pointed look towards Sirius in the process, and the turning back to the muggle. "Roe, we're hoping that you can help us develop a magical cure to werewolf attacks. Of course you'll probably have to teach us how to do it the muggle way first but-"

"Why?" she interrupted with narrowed eyes, sitting up straighter and leaning forward on the table. "I've been doing this for years, so why now? And what's 'the Order'?"

Remus took a deep, calming breath before he continued, though Sirius could tell how hard he was trying to keep his voice even. "I understand that you have questions, Roe, but there are answers that we can't give you. It isn't safe for you to-"

Roe interrupted again, but this time she sounded mad. "I have a feeling that none of this is going to be particularly safe, so why don't you cut the crap and just tell me what's going on?"

Remus and Tonks exchanged a look that ended in Remus letting out a sigh, before turning to Sirius who only shrugged.

"Fine," Remus finally said, before he began to recount the short version of decades of their own history.

\\\

Throughout the time she'd spent working with Dumbledore, Roe had made a point of learning as little as possible about the man's world. There had been a time when she'd gone into it looking for help and she'd been turned away, and she still harbored bad feelings about that.

Still, she'd never realized exactly how bad things were in the magical world.

"You're telling me that this man's creating an army?" she demanded incredulously, trying to process everything she'd just heard.

"Exactly," Tonks nodded, her previous, cheery demeanor falling away into something serene. It made the girl look older. "And he's well on his way to succeeding."

"And you're the only ones fighting against him?"

"That's where it gets complicated," Remus said, his voice grave and a bitter half-smile on his face. "The Ministry- our government- is denying that he's back. If they do that, they don't have to deal with him. Of course, that's an awful plan, but people are willing to believe anything when the alternative is the return to the dark ages of our kind."

"And you seriously think he's using werewolves as weapons?"

She saw Remus cringe at that, and Sirius did to, because the man reached out a hand and rested it on the other man's back. Tonks took over the conversation again.

"It wouldn't be the first time," she said grimly, her lips pursed together in a tight line. "Last time he mostly used them as a threat- there were a large number of werewolves who sided with him, and they're the ones who've given up on humanity altogether. It makes for a rather gruesome attack plan."

Roe felt her stomach drop, and the grim faces on the people around her didn't help matters. "Not all of them have sided with him though. Right?"

"Of course not," Sirius cut in, his voice harsh and something flaring in his eyes. Remus took over after a moment.

"Of course, it is hard to say no to him, and to the werewolves who sided with him. Many of them don't have a choice," he explained reasonably, looking more like a ghost than a man. "That's where you'd come in. If we can figure out a way to cure them once and for all we-"

"I don't have a cure," she interrupted him, noticing how harsh her voice became but not caring in the slightest. "I have a treatment, but even then it doesn't always work. If you're looking for a cure, I can't help you. I'm sorry, but you're out of luck."

Remus didn't look surprised at all. He smiled sadly, while Tonks nodded. The look on Sirius' face was the most curious and by far the most intense, so she looked away.

"But a treatment is more than anybody in our world has managed," Tonks said, her voice taking on a softer note, as if she was talking to a scared animal. "It's a start."

"We're not looking for any miracles," Remus said, starting up where Tonks left off, "But if you can help us combat the werewolf attacks in any way possible, it would go a long way. Even if we just managed to translate your treatment to magic, that would be monumental."

She bit her lip and looked away, but she also knew that she couldn't say no. Still, there was something that was eating at her mind.

"You're sure they're not all bad?" she asked, hating the way her voice faltered slightly.

Remus smiled wryly at that. "I wouldn't be here if we were."

It took a few moments for the gravity of the man's words to hit her, but when they did she felt like she'd been run over by a truck. Regret and sorrow washed over her all at once, and then she just felt tired.

/

Sirius saw the thoughts run through her mind, and he saw the look on her face. He spoke before he could stop himself.

"If you've got a problem with that, I'll happily show you the door."

Remus sent him an appalled look, and Tonks kicked him under the table. Across from him, the girl practically came to life all over again.

"If I've got a problem with him?" she asked incredulously, anger covering her previously unreadable face as she stared him down. "What about you lot? I've seen the way your people look at muggles- hell, have the people in this house have been looking at me that way since I got here. I couldn't give a damn is he's a werewolf; it's your people who'd better pull yourself together if you're to lower your standards enough to work with me. As long as he doesn't expect some magical cure, I don't have a problem with him."

He didn't want to be the first to break eye contact, but he also had nothing to say to that. It took a lot to stun Sirius into silence, but somehow the muggle girl had managed. Luckily, Tonks broke the silence, just as it was starting to become too heavy.

"Does that mean you will work with us, then?"

Roe practically deflated in front of them, but she nodded her head. "I really can't promise anything, but I'll give it a go."

Out of principle Sirius didn't smile at her, but Remus and Tonks did. She turned so that she was only facing them, and that was fine by him. He crossed his arms and leaned back, knowing that the fun was only starting.

"Perfect," Remus said, smiling slightly as he gathered up the papers in front of him. "Tonks can show you your room- we'll have somebody stop by your place and pick up-"

"Excuse me?" she interrupted, quickly making a habit of it. Tonks and Lupin looked uncertain, and Sirius didn't offer any guidance, so she continued after a moment of silence. "I'm sorry if there was any confusion, but I'm not living here."

Everything in her voice said that she wasn't sorry at all. Tonks looked nervous, but pushed through. "Well it's not exactly safe for you to be by yourself; you can't really protect yourself against much of anything so…"

"And why would I need protection?"

Remus looked exasperated at that. "Did you not listen to anything we were just saying?"

Her face turned to steel then. "I agreed to help you, which I will do in my spare time. I have a job, and I have a life. I've survived this long without your protection, so I'm sure I'll have no problem continuing to do so."

Remus looked ready to protest again, while Tonks only shrugged. Sirius knew a lost battle when he saw one.

"She's right, Remus," he said quietly, focusing on his friend, rather than the girl, as he spoke. "It's not like the Death Eaters will be going after her any time soon- they don't even know she exists, for Merlin's sake."

Remus looked like he wanted to protest more, but he let out a sigh. "Fine," he said, before he started thinking. "We'll need a way to communicate with you at all times though. And we'll have guards check in. We'll definitely be putting up some defensive spells, but we should probably consult Mad Eye before we do that."

He continued rambling, but Sirius tuned him out, and it seemed like everybody else did as well. Tonks was staring at Remus, though it was clear that she wasn't taking in what he was saying. Roe, on the other hand, was staring into the tea cup in front of her, her eyes closing slightly more every second.

The girl was pretty enough, he decided. She had long, dark hair, full lips, and brown eyes that had more depth in them than he'd ever thought possible. She was short and curvy, and she held herself with an air of confidence that most people twice her age didn't manage. Despite that, she looked tired, and it wasn't the kind of tired that a nap cured. She couldn't have been a day over thirty, but she had bags under her eyes that looked centuries in the making, and it seemed like she'd been carrying the world for a very long time.

Sirius hadn't noticed just how intently he'd been staring at her until she looked up and met his gaze, and hers subsequently filled with irritation. The feeling flared up in him a second later, so he smiled suggestively at her until she rolled her eyes and turned back to Remus.

"Of course, you'll have to stay here tonight, until we can get the proper safety precautions in place," he said, bringing his rambling to an end. "Nymphadora, I understand she was supposed to be staying in your room?"

Tonks nodded, only looking slightly put off by Remus' use of her first name, while Roe looked ready to fight again. That was interrupted by a barely concealed yawn.

"Fine," she muttered, arms crossed and pouting slightly.

"Alright then, let's go," Tonks said, pushing her chair back and standing up, waiting for Roe to do the same before he gestured towards the door, indicating that Roe should head out. "We'll talk again in the morning- goodnight."

Remus returned Tonks' smile and held it for a moment too long. For his part, Sirius couldn't help but smirking after Roe, who was waiting tentatively by the door.

"Sweet dreams, sweetheart," he called after her, getting a snort from Tonks and a distinctly annoyed groan from Roe.

When the door had closed behind them, Remus turned to face Sirius with raised eyebrows and an expression that demanded an explanation, but Sirius opted to ignore it. Instead, he stood up and wandered over to a cupboard.

"I know I've got some fire whiskey around here somewhere…"

\\\

Tonks continued to talk the entire way up the stairs and through the winding hallways, and Roe did her best to follow the conversation. She nodded her head, and made appreciative noises where necessary, but she was exhausted and it was becoming harder and harder to hide it.

The house itself was absolutely terrifying, so she turned away from the heads on the walls and the ominous looking curtains and the closed doors, telling herself that she was only there for the night.

When they finally got to Tonks' room the girl opened the door and said, "Well, this is it," gesturing towards the made bed in the far corner, that was presumably Roe's. "Bathroom's just down the hall and to the right, and I suppose you'll be needing pajama's…"

"This is fine," Roe said, cutting her off and realizing a moment later that she sounded harsher than she'd meant to, and opted to correct herself. After all, the girl had been nothing but kind of her. "Thank you- really, I just don't want to be a bother and besides, I've slept in these before."

Tonks looked uncertain, but she nodded her head eventually. "Right then, sleep well," she said with one last smile, before she excused herself from the room and left Roe alone for the first time in what felt like far too long.

It struck her as odd just how silent the house was, and she knew that she had a million things to think about, but the second her head hit the rather lumpy pillow, she was asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Roe was walking up the path towards her parents' house, like she'd done a million times before.

It was dark out, the street was empty, and she could see from where she was standing that the front door was slightly ajar. She knew what was happening and she wanted to run away, but her legs were moving her towards the house and she couldn't stop them.

She walked through the front door and into the house, knowing that she was dreaming the whole time. Somehow, that didn't make it feel any less real, and it definitely didn't make it any less terrifying.

Just like the last time she'd been there, all of the lights were out and it was completely silent. She stood still for a few moments, catching her bearings, until she heard something move upstairs.

She'd been expecting it, and she knew what she would find, and she knew that she didn't want to go there. Still, she couldn't stop her feet from moving towards the stairs, and then she was running up them.

The walls around her were spattered with blood, and when she slowed down she realized just how fresh it was. By then her heart was pounding in her ears, and adrenaline was pumping through her veins, and she had to keep going.

She followed the blood, and stopped abruptly when it lead her to her parents' bedroom.

All she had to do was reach out and touch the door, and it flew open, and then there was even more blood. She could smell it in the air, and it was the only thing she could see, and she thought she might drown in it.

In the middle of the mess her parents' bodies were lying still and lifeless, though she looked away the second she saw them. She couldn't look at them. She couldn't look at any of it anymore.

She was turning to leave- to run- when she saw something move out of the corner of her eye, and let out an inhumane cry when she realized that it was her little sister, covered in blood and cowering in the corner.

Roe wanted to fall to the ground and scream until it was over- until she woke up- but then she realized that a significant amount of the blood in the room was coming from her little sisters wounds, and she had to make it stop.

She was about to move towards the girl, but before she got a chance to, her little sister stood up, and then she was transforming.

/

Roe woke with a start, her arms thrashing at the bed around her and her face buried into the pillow. She bolted up the second she'd realized what was happening, and let out a deep breath when she saw that the room she was in was different than the one she'd dreamt.

In her moment of relief, she didn't notice that she'd also woken Tonks, who was staring at her with a concerned look on her face.

"Bad dream?" she asked sympathetically, causing Roe to startle once again. Tonks smiled apologetically at that, though Roe couldn't find it in her to return the gesture.

"Yeah, something like that," she muttered, before she pushed the tangled covers away from her body entirely and sliding her feet over the side of the bed, so that she was facing Tonks. "Look, I'm really sorry if-"

"Don't worry about it," Tonks said, before she could finish. "Everybody's got things that haunt them these days, and there's no use apologizing over it."

Roe nodded, and then looked away. Tonks had been kind and light hearted before and, while she remained the former, it was strange to see a solemn exterior taking over. They sat in silence for a moment before Roe excused herself to the washroom. As wonderful as Tonks was, she needed to be alone, and a wave of relief washed over her when she locked the bathroom door behind her.

She felt like crying, though the tears didn't come. Instead, she ended up leaning heavily against the sink, taking ragged breathes until she became light-headed and had to force herself to stop. She closed her eyes tightly and bit down on her lip, focusing on the pain that she felt.

She felt the stinging of her lip, and the cool sink that she was gripping tightly in her hands, and the floor beneath her feet, and she focused on those until she could breathe easily again.

Nightmares were nothing new, but she normally dealt with them quite a bit better than that. Still, she couldn't remember the last time she'd had that particular one.

Once she was sure she'd calmed down, she splashed cold water on her face and got a good look at herself in the mirror.

Her clothes were wrinkled and her makeup was smudged beyond repair, though her hair had held its own pretty well. She fixed what she could, took one last deep breath, and headed for the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea.

\\\

While Remus had nursed one drink over the course of an hour or so before heading off to bed, Sirius had exercised far less restraint and, as a result, had passed out at the kitchen table shortly after his friend went to bed.

He woke up slowly the next morning, his head still fuzzy from drink, to find a girl facing the running sink, with a pile of dishes on the counter beside her. It took him a moment to realize that it was the muggle from the night before, and that she was cleaning them.

He watched her for several moments, confused as to why she was doing it, before he began to feel creepy. Finally, he cleared his throat, promptly getting her attention.

"Good morning, Rosemary," he drawled, a half-smile on his face as he watched her startle.

The smirk only grew when she spun around and he saw how irritated she was. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" she demanded, her glare continuing for a moment, while Sirius simply continued to smirk. Eventually she rolled her eyes and turned back to the sink, throwing, "And it's Roe," over her shoulder, as an afterthought.

"In that case, you and Nymphy will get along well," he said, holding back an eye roll. It was a frequent argument between him and his cousin and, as a result, had become a predictable one. "Though in her case it makes a bit more sense; Rosemary isn't a terrible name at all, and there are so many better names to come from it- Rose and Mary, for starters…"

"Seeing as how your name is Sirius, I don't think you're in much of a position to judge- what is that, the dog constellation?" she asked, her tone biting.

"Among other things," he shrugged, glad that she was bickering back. It had gotten boring around the house very quickly, and it was nice to have somebody new, even if he would never admit it to her. "But it's not like I'm getting people to call me Sir- unless they're into that, of course-"

Roe made a strangled noise that almost sounded like a laugh, before she interrupted him. "Please, don't continue that thought."

Sirius' usual, shit-eating grin had taken up residence on his face and he couldn't hold back a wink, but he obliged. "Anyways, as I was saying, I go by the name my parents gave me- no shame in that, no matter how pompous it is and how mad they were. You must really hate your parents if you preferred to be called Roe to Rosemary- I mean, 'roe' is another word for fight and all…"

Sirius trailed off as he noticed that the girl had stopped moving. The sink was still running, but she was no longer washing the dishes, and it looked like she wasn't even breathing. She didn't seem to notice he'd stopped talking, until the kettle started to screech beside her, and she jumped to remove it from the stove.

For Sirius' part, he had the distinct feeling that he'd taken the joke too far, but he'd also always had a problem admitting he was wrong, so he sat still and waited for her to speak.

When she finally turned around, her face was steelier than it had ever been the night before, but there was something calm about it. She stared him down for a moment, and Sirius held her gaze steadily, though he had to will himself not to squirm.

When she spoke, all she asked was, "Would you like some tea?"

/

Molly Weasley came bustling into the kitchen shortly after Roe handed Sirius his cup of tea, and she swore she'd be eternally grateful to the woman because of it. She wasn't necessarily mad at the man, but she definitely didn't have anything else to say to him.

As it was, Molly quickly assessed the air to the room, and sent a terrifying glare towards Sirius. "You haven't been bothering her, now have you?"

"Molly, would I ever do that?" he asked, infuriatingly charming, sounding like he'd said the same thing a million times before. Roe couldn't stop herself from huffing, and that caught the other woman's attention.

"I would certainly hope not," she said, punctuating each word sharply. "That would be no way to treat a guest. Especially not one who's doing us all such a favor."

"I feel the same way," he said lavishly, with a smile that would have charmed just about anybody, except for the two women in the room. Molly simply rolled her eyes and turned to Roe, who was just as unimpressed.

"Sit down dear- I'll have breakfast ready in ten minutes," she said, a dramatically kinder tone in her voice as she nodded towards a chair and waited for Roe to sit before she looked away.

While she waited for breakfast, Roe focused all of her attention on a spot on the table, making a point to not look at Sirius. She knew that he hadn't meant harm by his comments, but she also didn't want to forgive him just yet.

Luckily, the kitchen filled quickly, as the red-headed children made their way out of bed and all ended up around the table, apparently woken by their mothers cooking. They casted curious looks in Roe's direction, but didn't say much of anything until Tonks got there.

"You lot are awfully quiet this morning," she said, casting a glance across the table before her gaze landed on Roe and a mischievous smile appeared on her face. She turned to the girl beside her abruptly. "Say, do you think I could pull off a lighter shade of purple?"

The girls face light up in a smile, and everybody else seemed interested. "Only one way to find out," she shrugged, looking more excited than her nonchalant attitude made apparent.

Tonks smiled at that and, before Roe could register what was happening, she scrunched her face up, went cross-eyes, and then her hair was purple.

Roe knew that everybody in the room was watching her reaction, and she couldn't hide it. Her eyes were wide and her mouth dropped open, and Tonks only laughed. "You like it, then?"

"It… actually looks really good," she recovered after a moment, shaking her head as the teenagers around her laughed. "Can you all…?"

"No, it's something I was born with," Tonks explained, before launching into a detailed history of her life and how her gift had affected it. Roe listened avidly, realizing quickly that she was more curious about the wizarding world than she'd originally thought. Evidently, being shown it by Dumbledore meant that she'd missed out on quite a bit.

Eventually Tonks' story was cut short by Molly bringing food to the table. It was only when Roe saw the plates of eggs, potatoes, toast, and everything else she could have asked for, that she realized how hungry she was, and how long it had been since she'd had a decent meal.

Unfortunately, that meal was interrupted halfway through, when a man appeared in the kitchen doorway, clearing his throat and drawing everybody's attention towards him.

His face was covered in scars, he was leaning heavily on a cane, and he wore an unapologetic scowl. Despite all of that, his most prominent feature by far was the glass eye attached to his face, that had currently fixed its gaze on Roe.

"We've got work to do," he said, his voice raspy and abrupt. "I'll be in the library."

\\\

Shortly after Mad-Eye's abrupt introduction, Sirius found himself sitting across from the man at a table in the library. Tonks was to his left with an uncomfortable looking Roe on her other side, while Remus sat beside Moody, whose magical eye still hadn't left Roe.

"So you're the one with the cure- Dumbledore's told us all about you, of course," the man grumbled, breaking the silence that had fallen, as he continued to stare Roe down.

For her part, the girl repeated the same thing she'd been saying since they'd met. "It's not a cure. It's a-"

"Yes, yes, it's a treatment," Sirius cut her off, watching irritation flash across her face, breaking through her previous discomfort. Sirius merely smirked. "You may have mentioned it once or twice, sweetheart."

"You'd do best to remember it," she shot back and, while Sirius had a retort on the tip of his tongue, a growl from Moody sent them both into silence.

"If you two don't mind, I'm here to do a job," he said, his glass eye on Roe, while his other one glared at Sirius. Remus and Tonks were holding back giggles, which the older man ignored entirely, and turned to face Roe. "Dumbledore wants me to put up security around your flat. To do that, I've got to ask a few questions."

While Roe didn't look entirely happy about the idea, she nodded her head, and that was enough for Mad-Eye.

"Your address is number 10 Cobblestone Rd., unit 216, correct?"

"Yes."

"And you live alone?"

"Yes."

"Any pets?"

"No."

"How often do you have visitors?"

She hesitated for a moment at that. "Rarely."

"Nobody… special?" Mad-Eye asked, his brusque tone taking on an awkward note that Roe didn't seem to pick up on. However, it only took Sirius a moment to realize what the Auror was implying.

"Come on Rosie- no boyfriend? Girlfriend, perhaps? A beautiful girl like you's got to have somebody to tickle her-"

"No," she snapped, cutting him off while a blush rose on her face. Sirius was going to comment on it, but Remus sent him a warning look that he knew to heed.

"Just asking," Sirius muttered, holding up his hands in a gesture of innocence, which got eye rolls from just about everybody at the table, except Tonks, who was looking at him curiously.

Remus didn't dignify his comment with a response, and instead turned to Moody. "Was there anything else?"

"That'll do it for now," the Auror grumbled, readjusting his bad leg before he used the weight of the table to help himself stand. Once he was up, he turned to Roe. "I'll be done in a few hours. Stay here until then."

She looked like she wanted to protest, but the magical eye was still on her and she seemed to think better of it in the end. Instead, she watched the group say their goodbyes, while Sirius watched her.

Once Mad-Eye was gone, her attention re-directed towards him, and she caught onto his staring. While she glared, he grinned.

"Well Rosie, since you seem to have a few hours to spare at the moment, I for one would love to hear all about this treatment of yours."

/

So far today, Roe had learned one thing; that Sirius Black was absolutely infuriating. She wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face and be done with it, but Tonks and Remus were looking at her expectantly, and she knew that this conversation was inevitable. Still, she made a point of turning away from Sirius before she spoke.

"What do you want to know?" she asked, forcing herself to look at them as she did so. Remus looked hesitant, while Tonks jumped straight to the point.

"How does it work?" she asked, leaning forward in her chair.

Roe smiled warily at the girls' curiosity, and knew that it was mirrored in the rest of them. "It's a bit complicated."

"We've got time," Sirius shrugged, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. "And I think you'll find that we're quite adept at this sort of thing- we're not exactly stupid."

Roe narrowed her eyes at that. "But you don't know much about my sort of medicine, do you?" she asked, recalling the wizards she'd encountered in the past, and their hostility towards her muggle ways. The three at the table at least had the decency to look ashamed there.

"We know that you have a treatment, and we know that Dumbledore thinks it's worth looking further into. That's enough for us, no matter what kind of medicine it is," said Remus, though when Roe looked up at him she saw just how nervous he was. He was tense and still, and she didn't blame him. She also knew that he was right.

"Alright," she said, nodding at him and returning his gaze. She knew that this must be harder for him than the other two at the table, so she focused on that. When she explained the treatment she spoke to him, and he didn't flinch.

The treatment was hard and ugly and it didn't always work, and by the time she was done explaining it, she knew that he saw that. His face had hardened entirely, and she had to look away.

The other two looked shocked, though it was mixed with disgust and a hint of amazement. Tonks spoke first.

"You drain their blood?"

"Their blood holds the virus. If their blood isn't in them on the full moon, there's no reason for them to transform," she explained, keeping her tone clinical and her gaze even, trying her best not to react to their growing hostility towards the treatment.

"But then you put it back in them- why wouldn't they transform then?" Tonks asked, her brows furrowed. Roe realized than that she wasn't appalled- she was fascinated.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think it's got something to do with it missing the first transformation. If the blood isn't in the body, it can't do anything. After that, the virus is dormant, I guess," she said, finishing with a small shrug.

"And this works?" Tonks asked, to which Roe nodded. "That's brilliant- how did you come up with it?"

Roe hesitated at that, and looked away from their interested faces. "That's not relevant."

\\\

Sirius had sat back and listened to Roe's explanation of her treatment and, if he hadn't been impressed with her before, he certainly was now. Muggle or not, the girl was a genius, and she had no right to start holding back now.

"I'd say that it's entirely relevant- how are we supposed to recreate the treatment if we don't know how you created it to begin with?" he asked, catching her gaze and raising his eyebrows. She glared in response.

"You know how it works. I'm sure you'll manage."

"She's right, Sirius," Remus said, interrupting him before he could protest. "Besides, she'll be here to answer any questions we might have."

When Sirius looked to Remus to protest, he noticed how exhausted his friend looked, and knew that he hadn't been that way at the beginning of the conversation. He knew better than to show his concern, so he simply nodded and complied. However, he wasn't the only one who had questions.

"But Roe, before you met Dumbledore, where did you find werewolf victims to experiment on?" Tonks asked, regretting the words a moment later. Roe looked like she'd been slapped in the face, and her response mimicked that.

"I didn't experiment on anybody. I treated my patients when nobody else would- in most cases I saved their lives. I wasn't experimenting- I was doing what I had to do," she said, her voice rising dangerously, before she ended her rant abruptly. It left everybody at the table silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry- I didn't mean it like that," Tonks said, and Sirius felt bad for her. His cousin always had a way of putting her foot in her mouth, and this was definitely one of those cases. "I just meant, do that many muggles really get bitten by werewolves?"

"The town I'm from is surrounded by a forest and a lake. There are some mountains a bit to the north. Turns out, that makes it the perfect place for werewolves to set up camp," she explained and, though she didn't sound angry anymore, her tone took on a darker element. "I work at the only hospital for miles around, so we see our fair share of them."

"And your town- it's just filled with muggles who know about werewolves?" Tonks continued to press, apparently not at all turned off by the tone of the conversation.

"It's sort of an unspoken secret," Roe said, though her nonchalant tone didn't fool anybody and Sirius had quite a few more questions that Tonks didn't seem to be getting to.

"So what, people get attacked, they come to you, and…?" he asked, trying and failing to see how her process actually worked.

"If they survive the attack, and if they aren't taken by whoever bites them- which is a big if, mind you- most of them end up at the hospital. Most of the doctors won't touch them, but they know that I will, so they get sent to me. That's why I'm not staying here- they need me too," she said defiantly, her mouth forming a hard line and her arms crossing over her chest. "Well, that and the fact that this house is terrifying."

Her attempt at a joke was weak, but Sirius smiled at it anyways. The conversation had clearly taken its toll on everybody in the room, and suddenly none of his questions seemed very pressing. He spoke before Tonks or Remus could push it further, though he doubted that they would at this point.

"Well, your treatment doesn't sound too difficult to replicate. There is such thing as a blood replenishing potion- do you reckon that could come in handy?"

/

The blood replenishing potion sounded promising, and so did quite a few of the other suggestions that the magical trio made. In particular, Tonks' mention of something called the 'wolfsbane potion' drew her attention.

"You've never heard of it?" Tonks asked, aghast. "I would've thought that Dumbledore would've told you about it for sure."

While a million thoughts were running through her head, Roe's only response was a shrug, and Remus took over from there. "It's a fairly new invention, but it makes it so that when a werewolf transforms, we stay conscious. Essentially, we stay in our right mind; we remember who we are. It makes us less of a danger to the rest of the world."

"You mean to tell me," Roe started slowly, keeping her voice tightly even, even as anger rolled through her, "That I've been risking people's lives on a highly dangerous procedure, when your people could have just given them a potion?"

"Not at all," Remus said sharply, sitting up straighter as he did so. "The potion doesn't- Just trust me. Your way is better."

She wanted to fight him on it, but she also knew that he was right. After all, if anybody were to know the truth about it, it would be him.

Her anger faded away quickly after that, as their discussion continued. While Roe had been hesitant to help them at first, she was quickly becoming very interested in everything that they discussed. She was begrudged to admit that even Sirius made some worthy contributions to the conversation.

Around noon, Molly knocked on the library door, with a tray of sandwiches' and a pitcher of pumpkin juice. While she was there, she also happened to mention that Mad-Eye had owled her with word that Roe's apartment was ready to go.

After hearing that bit of information, Roe realized just how anxious she was to get home. Luckily, Tonks had to get to work shortly after that, and offered to apparate Roe home beforehand.

It came as a surprise to Roe, when the only person who protested that was Sirius. "Oh, come on, the day is young and we've got plenty of work to do- do you really want to quit now?"

Roe considered it for a moment, but she already knew the answer. "Yes."

Tonks gave Sirius an 'I told you so,' look, while Remus smiled understandingly, and Sirius sulked. From what Roe had picked up on, the man was stuck in the house, though she still wasn't entirely sure why. Despite that, she did feel a wave of pity towards him.

Still, when Tonks headed out of the library, she didn't hesitate to follow her, waving one last goodbye as she went.

\\\

No matter how grateful Sirius was for his friends, he resented the fact that they got to leave Grimmauld Place. He didn't consider Roe to be his friend, but the resentment extended towards her as well.

While the girls left, Remus stood up and began browsing the shelves of the library, appreciating them more than Sirius ever had. For his part, Sirius stayed in his seat. He knew that sulking about wasn't doing him any good, but he also didn't have anything better to do.

That all changed moments later, when Molly Weasley came bounding into the room, her face pale and eyes wide in worry. Sirius sat up a bit straighter, while Remus walked over to the woman. When she spoke, he felt his blood run cold.

"I just got word from Arthur- Harry's been attacked by Dementors."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try to update this story once a week, every Sunday, until it's done, which is why I'm posting this today- honestly, it's far from the best thing I've ever written and I'm not entirely proud of it, but I wanted to put it up anyways. SO if you hated this chapter, I really hope you'll stick with me and give the next one a try, because I promise I can do better! Reviews are always appreciated, and I would love some constructive criticism!


	3. Chapter 3

When Tonks dropped Roe off at her flat, she'd also taken the time to explain the safety precautions that Mad-Eye had put in place. Along with those, she'd pointed out a journal that had been waiting for her on the kitchen table. Supposedly, if Roe were to write in it, the words would appear in a similar journal that was being kept in Grimmauld Place, though she hadn't tried it out yet.

As usual, she'd been ridiculously busy with work, though for once she was thankful for that. Being around the magic put her on edge, but being at work gave her an excuse to get away from it. As it turned out, her odd behaviour didn't escape her co-workers notice.

She was standing at reception, re-organizing the charts that the doctors always seemed to mess up, when her boss, Dawn, mentioned it.

"I've seen you around here too many times this week, Green," she said, a warning in her voice that scared most of the other nurses, but always made Roe hold back a laugh. Under her tough exterior, Roe knew that the older woman had a soft spot for her.

"I don't know what you're talking about, ma'am," Roe replied, continuing to focus most of her attention on the charts. After a moment, the older woman shook her head and walked away. Seconds after she was gone, somebody tapped on Roe's shoulder, and she turned to see one of the friendlier surgeons, Shane, standing behind her.

"She is terrifying," he fake-whispered, nodding after Dawn and emphasizing his point with a fake shudder, which got a smile out of Roe.

"I think she's funny."

"That's because you're also terrifying," he joked, in the same almost-flirty way that he did with all of the nurses.

"Right," Roe said, ready to ask what he really wanted from the conversation, when a flash of pink hair caught her eye, right before it disappeared around the corner. Instinct told her to follow it, so she excused herself from Shane and did just that.

Like she'd expected, when she rounded the corner she ran straight into Tonks.

"Wotcher, Roe," the young witch smiled, drawing strange looks from the people around them. Roe bit back a smile, and pulled her into an empty storage room as quickly as she could.

"What are you doing here?" Roe hissed, raising her voice as soon as they were alone. "Is everything alright?"

"Of course it is- why? Is everything alright with you?" Tonks asked, only partly paying attention to Roe, as her eyes wandered to the shelf of nursing supplies beside her.

"Yes, everything's fine- but if everything's fine, then why are you here?"

"I thought I'd take your watch shift for the day- we haven't heard from you since last week, and the full moon's getting close. I wanted to make sure you were alright, and apparently you are," Tonks rambled on, playing with a sutures kit that she'd picked up. By the end of her speech, Roe couldn't help but smile.

"I've just been busy, is all," she brushed it off, changing the subject quickly. "How have you been?"

"Good- crazy busy too though- things at headquarters have been absolutely insane, though the kids are going back to school soon, so it'll quiet down then, I suppose-"

Tonks was cut off when Roe's pager let out a sharp beep.

"Shit- I've got to go," Roe said, looking at the message and then back to Tonks. "I've got most of next week off- I'll write you then?"

Tonks barely had time to nod in response, before Roe was out of the room and running down the hallway, heading for the ER.

\\\

After he received the owl from Harry, everything in Sirius' life seemed to speed up in the most glorious fashion. When the boy finally arrived at Grimmauld Place a few days later, Sirius had trouble hiding just how happy he was to see him. In so many ways, it made him feel young again, and he loved every second of it.

He'd be lying if he said that he hadn't entertained the idea of Harry being expelled and getting to stay at Grimmauld Place with him, though he tried to banish those thoughts as soon as they entered his mind. He wanted what was best for the boy, after all.

Despite Harry being there, Sirius' sleep was still plagued with dreams. Years in prison after losing your best friends to a war will do that to a person, and he'd long since taken to self-medicating.

Luckily, somebody was almost always around to join him for a drink. In particular, Nymphy had taken to hanging around Grimmauld Place, though Sirius suspected that she had ulterior motives.

"Is Remus around?" she asked that night, casually playing with the glass of fire whiskey in her hand. Sirius easily saw through her nonchalant exterior.

"He was guarding the prophecy today, but he should be back soon," Sirius said, watching her nod slightly at his words, though a look of worry also briefly crossed her face. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious, is all," she shrugged. "It's almost sad to see you here without your normal drinking buddy."

He knew she was joking so he smiled faintly, but it also hit him a little bit too close to home. Rather than responding, he took a long drink and finished the glass, pouring himself another quickly.

Apparently Tonks realized her mistake, as she changed the subject shortly after. "I saw Roe today- she'll be by next week. Have you done any thinking about her treatment?"

"Harry's here, and he's got his trial in a few days- I've been-"

"Too busy? Roe said the same thing," Tonks smiled wryly. "We'll have to get to it sooner or later though. It's really quite exciting. I mean, coming up with a cure for werewolves would be changing peoples' lives- though I'm probably getting ahead of myself- what do you think about all of it? You've got more experience with them than I do- or at least, with one of them… You must have looked for a cure before, right?"

Sirius smiled and waited for his cousins' rambling to end, before he shrugged. "There was a time when James and I were sure we'd cure him. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a bit too much for a couple of second years to tackle. If Roe's treatment works, then she's gotten further than the two of us ever did."

"Still, you and Remus don't seem particularly excited…"

"We have no guarantee that it'll work. It's interesting, alright, but interesting isn't worth getting out hopes up over. Especially in Remus' case," he said into his glass, hating how grim he sounded.

For her part, Tonks only shrugged. "I'm sure it'll work- Dumbledore's vouched for it, hasn't he?"

Sirius only nodded his head at that. Nymphadora wasn't naive, but she was still young enough to believe in miracles, and Sirius didn't want to be the one to change that. Instead, he changed the subject and listened to her animated stories about work.

He had long since come to the conclusion that Nymphadora Tonks was the best thing to come out of his sorry excuse for a family, and speaking with her only ever served to confirm that.

Eventually Remus joined them, though he ended up turning in soon after and Tonks followed suit. Sirius finished the bottle, and spent the night on the sofa.

/

Roe didn't have a day off until the next week, and by that time she'd almost forgotten about the book on her table. Still, it stared her down while she was eating her cereal and by the time she'd cleaned her dishes she'd resigned herself to the fact that she had to contact the Order. She'd promised to, after all.

It took her a few minutes of thinking before she settled on a simple and direct message, writing the words, 'I'm free today and tomorrow. Let me know if you want to meet up,' on the paper, and watching it disappear into the page.

She only had to wait a moment, before a messily scrawled response appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

'Now?'

She almost said yes, but then glanced down at her pajamas and though better of it. 'Give me 10 minutes.'

She made it half way to her bedroom, before a loud crack interrupted her and she turned to see Sirius wandering through her living room, looking far more at home than he had any right to.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, remembering Tonks' reaction the last time she'd met him outside of headquarters, and hoping that the other girl wasn't far behind him.

"I'm here to get you, of course. Is that what you're wearing?" he asked, looking her up and down, his eyes lingering on her exposed legs.

"Aren't you supposed to be on lockdown or something?" she asked, ignoring his stare and not dignifying his question with a response. He obviously noticed her irritation, and it seemed to only make him happier.

"Something like that, but I couldn't ignore a message from you- we've got work to do, Rosie," he said, practically singing the last words, which only made her role her eyes.

"Right," she said flatly, holding back quite a few retorts, as she realized that bickering wouldn't get them anywhere. Instead, she spun around and walked towards her room, speaking to him over her shoulder. "I'm getting changed. Don't touch anything."

\\\

Roe's flat was spotless- practically immaculate- and Sirius found it incredibly eerie. On second glance, he didn't find it entirely surprising, though the complete lack of any personal touches did throw him off.

Looking around, he saw absolutely nothing interesting, other than a few muggle contraptions that threw him off, and even those weren't interesting enough for him to bother with. Due to the complete lack of options, he found himself browsing through her CD rack in a corner, and was pleasantly surprised by her taste.

Lily had introduced him to muggle music back in the day, though he hadn't listened to it for ages. He was examining a Rolling Stones record, when Roe walked back through the door, now dressed in a pair of jeans and a loose top, looking incredibly irritated.

"I told you not to touch anything."

He ignored her comment entirely, and held up the record. "Isn't this a bit before your time?"

"How young do you think I am?" she asked incredulously, raising her eyebrows when his only response was a shrug. He wanted to know, but he'd also learned from experience that guessing a women's age was a game that nobody won. She apparently caught on to that because, after moments of silence she let out a sigh that sounded vaguely defeated. "They were my mom's.'"

That was also a road that Sirius had quickly learned not to go down. "Ah well, good taste," he acknowledged, getting a strained smile from her in response. He took that as a hint, and put the record back where he found it. "Anyways, you ready to go back to the freak show? If I were you, I would have run for the hills long ago, mind you."

"As ready as I'll ever be- is Tonks coming to apparate me?" There was a gleam of hope in her eyes that Sirius almost found offensive, and he couldn't help but scoff.

"I can assure you that I am more than capable of side-along apparating one muggle. Come on," he said, taking a step towards her and grabbing onto her arm, a bit rougher than he'd intended to. She flinched away and he loosened his grip, wincing at his own behaviour. He softened his voice before he spoke again. "Close your eyes."

She was hesitant, but nodded her head and did as he'd said. Once her eyes were closed, Sirius stepped closer to her, maintaining his grip on her arm while wrapping his other arm around her back. He tucked her face into his chest, and held it there. He knew that she disliked apparating, but he also didn't want to make it any worse than it had to be.

"Alright then," he whispered into her hair, preparing himself to apparate and figuring that she at least deserved a warning. "Three, two, one."

/

Apparating was as awful as ever, no matter how hard Sirius tried to make it otherwise.

It took a few moments for Roe's head to stop spinning, and when it finally did and her stomach settled, she realized that she was still standing in the man's arms, and pulled back abruptly. He raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything as Roe turned away.

She realized that they had landed in the library this time. It was empty, and the house sounded quiet. "Where is everybody?" she asked, turning back to him in time to see him shrug.

"It's a busy day- out and about, I suppose," Sirius said, though Roe detected more than a little dishonesty in his tone, which was confirmed when the door opened seconds later, and Remus walked in. The man looked from Roe to Sirius, and then threw his hands up in the air.

"Please tell me that Tonks apparated you here," he said to Roe, who tried to smile but knew it came out as a cringe, prompting Remus to turn back to Sirius. "On the day of Harry's trial? Really? You couldn't at least try to behave?"

Sirius surprised Roe, and smiled widely at that. "I've never been one to behave- did you really expect that to change now?"

"I'd hoped," Remus muttered, though Sirius' smile was evidently contagious, and it only took another moment before the look was matched on Remus' face. Still, he rolled his eyes. "It's no wonder he's on trial, with you as a guardian."

Sirius' grin only widened at that, and Roe also caught a brief look of pride. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she spoke up. "Who's Harry?"

"My godson," Sirius said, this time with definite pride in his voice. Roe caught the same look on Remus' face, and raised her eyebrows, entirely baffled by it all.

"And what's he on trial for?"

"Complete bullshit, is what for," Sirius muttered, though Remus spoke over him and Roe barely caught it. "Using magic outside of school- he did it in self-defence, though the Ministry doesn't want to see it that way."

"Right," she said, drawing out the word as she took in the two men in front of her. Something in the way they were holding themselves told her that there was more to the story, and then she realized what she was forgetting. "Oh, HARRY- he's the boy who lived? The one who killed Vladimort the first time?"

The men held their serious faces for a moment, before Sirius let out a roar of laughter and Remus' face took on a pained look, like he was trying not to laugh as well. Roe was thoroughly confused, though eventually Remus took pity on her.

"I think you mean Voldemort," he said, still grinning widely. "But yes- that's the Harry. He's at the Ministry right now- probably won't be back for a few hours, so I suppose we could get some work done…"

Roe nodded and knew he was right, but something else was eating at her and she turned to Sirius to confront him, narrowing her eyes. "Am I a distraction, then? You couldn't go to trial with Harry, so I'm the next best thing?"

"Of course not, Rosie," he said quickly, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth as he tried and failed to sound sincere. Roe almost believed him, but then he spoke again. "You were at least my fifth or sixth option for the day, but plans have a tendency to fall through when you can't leave your house."

"You left your house to get me," Roe pointed out, opting to ignore the well placed insult.

"Yes well, desperate times," he brushed her off entirely, which bothered her more than she was willing to let on. Instead of acknowledging that, she turned to Remus, who seemed a little bit too amused.

He brushed that off his face when he realized that Roe was looking at him, and stood up a bit straighter. "Right, well, I've picked out some books for you to look over- perhaps we should start with that?"

\\\

After half an hour of reading, Sirius was bored out of his mind. Remus had suggested that he look at the books along with Roe, and he hadn't had anything better to do, but he now regretted agreeing to it. Especially because Remus had then excused himself, with a half-hearted excuse about needing to stop by a store.

Sirius had also already read the books, back during the summer after second year when he'd found out about Remus' predicament, and the information was all the same. To him, it all seemed pointless. Roe, on the other hand, disagreed.

"Are you sure you don't have a pen anywhere?" she asked again, drawing Sirius' attention to the paper where she was taking notes, which was currently covered in ink blots. He'd watched her grow increasingly frustrated by it, and found it hilarious.

"Sorry sweetheart," he shrugged, more amused than anything. "But you'll get the hang of it eventually- it took me awhile as well. Granted, I was five years old at the time, but still…"

"Helpful," she snapped, shaking the quill in her hand and only succeeding in making a bigger mess. Sirius watched her for a moment, before he shook his head and took pity on her.

"Here, give it to me- you read, I'll write."

She looked skeptical for a moment, but when he held out a hand she gave him the quill without protest, and then turned back to her book. About thirty seconds later, she put a finger down to hold her spot, and turned back to him.

"Silver and dittany heals the wound?" she asked, relaying information that was incredibly old to Sirius. He nodded, but didn't bother to write it down, though it did bring up a question or two.

"In a matter of minutes, yes- how have you been healing them?"

"Well it depends on the wound- they take forever to clean, and then it's either bandages or stitches until they heal. We're lucky if that happens before the next full moon," she explained, her tone getting increasingly bitter. Sirius felt his eyebrows furrow as he realized what 'stitches' likely entailed.

"You mean you sew their skin together?" he asked, a hint of disgust breaking through his voice.

"It's not as bad as it seems, and it's not like I had any other options," she said coolly, before turning back to the book. Her lips were pursed and her posture was stiff, and suddenly Sirius felt bad for her.

"Well you managed fine without the magic, it seems," he offered, the almost-compliment sounding awkward, even to him. "It sounds like you've saved a lot of lives. That's something."

"I know that," she said quickly, looking back up at him, a fierce look in her eye. "But I could have saved a lot more if I'd known about this, so forgive me for not caring much about your pointless apology on behalf of all wizards, or whatever it is you're trying to do."

He bit back a comment, and she turned back to the book. A few minutes later she made a comment on Wolfsbane, and he wrote it down without question.

/

Snapping at Sirius wasn't doing her any good, and yet Roe couldn't bring herself to stop. The more she read about the treatments wizards had developed for werewolf attacks, the more she felt completely out of her depth. Sirius' ability to act like he knew everything was not winning him any points with her.

And then there had been the stupid quill. She made a mental note to bring pens and a notepad with her next time she came to Grimmauld Place, less then content with their current system of recording notes. Still, his knowledge had proven helpful so far, and talking things through with him managed to discern which paths were hopeless.

"What do you know about the Hormorphus Charm?" she asked, struggling with the pronunciation, before she looked at him expectantly, surprised to see him rolling his eyes.

"That it's a load of crap," he said bluntly, though he elaborated when she raised her eyebrows. "The only man to ever claim it works is a blithering idiot- Gildory Lockheart wouldn't know what to do with a werewolf if one knocked on his front door."

"Alright then," Roe said, looking back down to the book, before Sirius interrupted her train of thought with another rant.

"Of course, there are spells that force other sorts of shapeshifters to transform, but those have never worked on werewolves. The moon, as it turns out, is a much more powerful force," he said, piquing Roe's interest.

"Other shapeshifters- like Tonks?"

Sirius looked stumped for a moment, before he shrugged. "I suppose they might work on her- I've never asked. They're mostly used on animagi."

"Ani- do you mean people who can turn into animals?" she asked, her mind now running a mile a minute, all of which was put to an abrupt halt by Sirius.

"Yes, but don't get your hopes up- that type of magic works entirely differently than the werewolf curse. Trust me when I say, this is a dead end."

She had about a million more questions to ask about that, but he seemed adamant about it being pointless and, against her better judgement, she was beginning to trust him, if only in regards to research. She nodded her head, and focused back on the book in front of her.

It was only a little while later when, far below them, the front door opened, and Sirius immediately sat up a little bit straighter. A man's voice filled the hallway, followed by a much younger one, and then Sirius excused himself, leaving Roe alone with the books.

\\\

Sirius really hadn't been expecting Harry back so soon. When he walked down the stairs and met the boy in the hallway, he could tell by the happy looks on everybody around them, what the results of the trial had been.

Rather than mirroring those feelings, Sirius felt a pang of something familiarly bitter reiterating through his chest, though he tried to hide it when Harry's eyes landed on his.

"I was pardoned- I get to go back to Hogwarts!" he exclaimed, only serving to encourage the cheers of the Weasley clan. Ron looked ecstatic, the twins and Ginny were chanting about something-or-other, and Hermione looked close to tears. Harry was clearly waiting for Sirius' response.

"Of course you do- they barely had a case against you," Sirius said, reaching out and clapping a hand on his godsons back, keeping a smile on his face, though it barely felt like one anymore. "Congratulations, Harry."

Harry beamed at him in response, before Molly showed up and herded the group into the kitchen. Sirius thought about following them, but knew that he needed a moment to himself. He also knew that he shouldn't leave Roe alone in the house for too long, especially with Kreacher roaming around.

When he got back up to the library, she was looking at him expectantly. "The trial went well then?"

"He was pardoned," Sirius said, hating how flat his tone was. Apparently Roe noticed it as well, because her eyebrows furrowed and she sat up a little bit straighter. Before she could reply, Sirius spoke again. "Of course, we all knew that he would be. It's wonderful, really."

"Ah, is that why you're so happy, then?" Roe asked jokingly, though anger was already flaring up deep inside of Sirius, and her blasé attitude was not helping matters.

"Do me a favour, and don't pretend that you know what you're talking about," he said, his voice lowering to a growl, which she only narrowed her eyes at. "It's none of your business."

"Right, then I suppose we're done here? Harry's back, so you don't need a distraction anymore?" she asked, closing the book in front of her and making to stand up. In a fit of petty rage, Sirius pulled out his wand and, in a single swipe of it, collected the books into a neat pile in his arms.

"It would seem so," he said, smirking when she took a step back, apparently caught off guard by the magic.

"Perfect," she said coolly, recovering from her surprise quickly, as her eyes hardened and she tilted her head slightly. "I'll get Remus to take me home, then."

"Don't be absurd," he snapped, walking toward her quickly and hating the way that she tensed as he did. He stopped just in front of her and held out a hand, letting her close the distance. Once she did, he turned sharply and, apparated keeping a firm grip on her arm the entire time.

They landed in her flat and he let go of her arm, only waiting a moment to make sure that she was alright, before he disapparated back to the library in Grimmauld Place.

With Roe gone and everybody else in the kitchen celebrating, Sirius was once again struck by the all-too familiar pang in his chest. This time, he recognized it as loneliness.

/

Later that evening Roe was still reeling from her dismissal from Grimmauld Place and, as a result, hadn't touched the pile of books on her table out of spite, if not anything else. Sirius had gone from being almost-friendly to rude in a matter of seconds, and she hadn't deserved it. She was not a prop for them to use when needed and then dismiss at their will, and she planned on telling them just that the next time they came to her begging for help.

Still, when she heard a faint crack followed by a knock on her door, she went to answer it immediately. She checked through the peephole first, and was surprised to see Tonks standing there, with a plate in hand.

"I brought food- please don't hate me," Tonks said in a rush as soon as Roe opened the door, as if she were actually afraid of being turned away. That alone was enough to make Roe melt a little bit.

"Of course I don't hate you," she said, stepping away from the door and opening it wider, allowing Tonks inside. "Your cousin is another story."

Tonks smiled sympathetically at that, though a dark look also crossed her face briefly. "Remus told me about that."

Roe shrugged, and bit back another retort. "That's on him, not you."

"I know that, but I do still feel bad about it. He had no right to kick you out- being locked up has just been really hard on him, is all," Tonks explained and, while Roe did like the girl, she wasn't interested in listening to her make excuses.

"I really appreciate you taking the time to stop by," she said instead, hoping that it would be enough to change the subject. Luckily, Tonks got the hint and held out the plate in her hands.

"Right- well, Molly sent this over. Lasagna- delicious, trust me- and I promise that I'll be in charge of the journal from now on," Tonks said, which really did get a grateful smile from Roe.

After a few more minutes of small talk, she invited Tonks inside, though the other girl turned down the offer.

"I've got work in the morning, and I really miss my own bed- though you should definitely come by my flat sometime!"

The offer took Roe off guard, but she smiled quickly. "Yeah, that'd be great- I'll see you soon, then."

"Wotcher," Tonks smiled, which Roe took as a hint to close the door. A second after she did, she heard the telling crack, and knew that the witch was gone.

She went to put the lasagna in the fridge, but realized how hungry she actually was and decided to heat some of it up instead. While she was waiting for it, she couldn't help but wander over to the pile of books on her table, and before she knew what she was doing she found herself fully engrossed in them, which is exactly how she spent the rest of her evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews mean the world to me and pretty much keep me going, so if you liked it please let me know what you think! :)


	4. Chapter 4

As always, Roe's time off from work was very short lived, and she found herself back at the hospital a few days after her abrupt departure from Grimmauld Place. The only difference was, was that now she had a shadow.

It seemed that every time she turned around she saw somebody who looked just a little bit out of place, and soon she recognized them as her guard. There was the man with dark skin and a shiny bald head who'd winked when they made eye contact, and the red headed, middle aged man who seemed altogether far too intrigued by the hospitals technology, and then one day Remus himself showed up, in shabby clothes with a sheepish look on his face.

It was a slow day and Roe welcomed the distraction, so she ducked away from the nurse's station and followed him around the corner, happy to see that he was waiting for her there.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he said in way of greeting, ducking his head when one of her co-workers walked by and said hi.

Roe smiled at her friend but kept her focus on the man in front of her. Something had been on her mind, and she was running out of time to bring it up.

"Of course not," she reassured him, before taking a step closer to him, lowering her voice, and jumping straight to the point. "I was actually hoping to talk to you soon- the full moon is next week and we need to figure something out before then. I've finished reading your books and-"

She cut herself off when Remus' eyes widened. "You finished all of them?"

"Yeah, I had a bit of spare time," she brushed him off, and waited until he nodded indulgently before she continued. "Anyways, there's no way we'll figure out a magical treatment before then, but I was hoping that if a patient came in, I'd be able to use silver and dittany and stuff like that- I mean, even if we never come up with a completely effective treatment, the stuff that you guys have access to could help me so much with my patients and I just…"

She trailed off and ended her rant with a shrug and a sigh, surprised that she'd let herself get that far into it. Normally she was calmer than that, but reading the magical books had gotten her excited and if the smile on Remus' face was any indication, then he'd definitely caught on.

"You've thought about this quite a bit then," he said, clearly amused by her enthusiasm.

"Well, we are very tight schedule," she pointed out, wincing slightly when she remembered that out of all people, he would know that. Thankfully, he didn't falter.

"Of course- and we'll talk again soon, but unfortunately I'm here on a different manner of business at the moment." Roe's eyes widened at the 'unfortunately,' but he only smiled wider. "Molly's organizing a party tonight. I'm to invite you, and not take no for an answer."

Treating werewolf victims was one thing- a party was a different matter entirely, and Roe balked at the idea of it. "A party? What for?"

"The children are going back to school, and Ron and Hermione were made Prefects this year. It's to congratulate them as well as to say goodbye."

"Ah."

"Indeed. Tonks says your shifts end at eight; may I pick you up then?" Roe knew that she wasn't getting out of this, and let out a sigh that was only slightly dramatic, but also smiled ruefully.

"If you must."

Remus smiled back, though his was much kinder than hers. "Brilliant," he said, and then he was off, leaving Roe to try and figure out what exactly she'd gotten herself into.

\\\

There was no possible way that Sirius could have said no to Molly Weasley. Ron and Hermione had gotten their Prefect badges in the mail, and the woman had lit up entirely. It was the happiest Sirius had ever seen her and, no matter how begrudgingly disdainful he usually felt towards her, he couldn't be the one to ruin that.

Luckily the firewhiskey made the occasion almost tolerable, or so he told himself. That, and the fact that some of the more interesting Order members were over.

Mundungus was far from a good person, but his presence always managed to shake things up, and it provided Molly with somebody else to scold for a change. Mad Eye had the same effect, though he was mostly terrifying, even from his spot in the corner where Tonks was making amicable conversation with him. Kingsley was there as well, nodding along to whatever it was that Tonks was saying. The only person missing was Remus, but Sirius expected that he'd show up soon.

Until then, he was distracting himself through conversation with the Weasley twins, who were talking with lowered voices, explaining their business plan to him. Sirius was more than a little bit impressed by the boys.

"We've scouted out a few places in Diagon Alley for shops and we've got most of the products made-"

"-Now it's just a matter of expanding our customer base and letting people know what we've got to offer-"

"-Which is why we're going back to Hogwarts this year."

"Brilliant," Sirius said once they seemed to run out of breath. He was about to ask where they'd gotten the money for all of it, when he saw Molly over their shoulders, sending disapproving looks their way. He looked away quickly, trying to appear innocent, and the boys seemed to catch on, changing the subject too quickly for it to be natural.

Luckily a distraction came quickly in the form of Remus' arrival, and Roe walking in a few steps behind him, looking incredibly uncomfortable with the whole thing.

Fred and George followed Sirius' gaze, before one of them turned back to him. "Any chance you'll tell us what you're up to with her?"

Sirius truly appreciated their attempts to get information, but he also knew better than to go against Molly's wishes and disclose confidential plans. "Sorry boys," he said, before he clapped Fred over the shoulder and smiled at George, getting up and walking towards Roe.

"Well, well, well, look who's back," he all but sang once he got to her, watching as her expression went from being one of discomfort to one of outright annoyance, and winking in response. "You just couldn't stay away from me, now could you?"

/

In the back of her mind, Roe had known that she would see Sirius at the party, and that she would almost certainly have to talk to him. She'd just been hoping against all odds that it wouldn't be so soon, and that he wouldn't be as insufferable as usual.

"Yes, that's exactly it," she deadpanned, knowing that their conversation had an audience, and that she wanted to come out of it with her dignity intact. "I tried to stay away, I did, but you're simply irresistible. I think I'm in love."

While she heard a chorus of snickers coming from all around the room, Sirius' smile only widened and she knew that he was thoroughly enjoying this. "You know, you're not the first to say that to me, Rosie."

This time she rolled her eyes. "Wonderful," she said, getting another wink in response, before she dodged around him and wandered further into the room.

The unfamiliar faces were daunting so she headed straight for Tonks, who was standing with Mad Eye and a man she recognized from the hospital.

"Wotcher Roe- have you met Kingsley?"

"Not officially," she said, smiling at the man in question and extending a hand, which he shook without hesitation.

"It's a pleasure to meet you in person," he said, his voice much deeper than she'd been expecting. She nodded at the sentiment, and he continued the conversation once the hand shake was over. "You do good work at your hospital. It's been an honor to watch."

She chuckled at the statement, feeling her cheeks grow slightly warm. "Well, I hope it's all interesting enough for you lot- it can't be much fun following me around all day."

He smiled indulgently at that, but before he got a chance to reply, Mad Eye cut him off. "Don't hope for interesting. Interesting means that something's going wrong, and when things go wrong people die. Boring is the goal, here."

Roe had no idea what to say to that and Kingsley seemed to be in the same boat. Luckily, Tonks broke the silence with an eye roll. "We know, we know- constant vigilance and all that. Really May Eye, it's a wonder you don't get invited to more parties with an attitude like this."

"I've told you a million times, Nympha-"

"Do not call me Nymphadora."

While Mad Eye looked livid and Tonks looked close to the same, Roe held back a laugh at their clearly practiced banter, and she found that it helped her relax into the conversation and, sooner than she'd thought possible, she realized that she was enjoying herself.

\\\

After Roe dismissed him Sirius found himself sitting with Remus, watching over the party but not truly interacting with it. He was more than pleased when, after ten minutes or so, Harry fell into the seat beside him, taking his attention away from the muggle who he hadn't realized he'd been watching so intently.

"Are you excited to go back to school?" Remus asked Harry, seemingly pulling him out of a trance in the process.

"Wha- oh, yeah- very," Harry said, though he sounded distracted and Sirius followed his gaze. It landed on Ron, who was currently showing off his Prefect badge to an entirely unimpressed looking Ginny.

"You know, your father and I were never Prefects," Sirius mentioned casually, drawing Harry's attention to him and seeing a look of relief cross the boy's face. "We caused far too much trouble for that- though Remus was one, weren't you?"

A look of nostalgia crossed Remus' face at that, and he smiled. "Ah, yes. Dumbledore thought I'd be able to keep you lot out of trouble, but clearly that never worked- you teased me mercilessly about it for all of fifth year."

"Yeah well, we can't all be as perfect as you, now can we, Remus?" Sirius joked, relieved to see that Harry was now smiling entirely. It was times like these when he thought that he might not be the worst godfather in the world.

The conversation devolved from there, as Remus and Sirius continued to relive memories from Hogwarts and Harry listened on, eating it all up. That broke Sirius' heart more than anything and he knew that Remus felt the same way, but neither of them let it show.

Eventually, Remus was called away by Tonks and Harry by Mad Eye, and Sirius was left sitting alone again. He poured himself another drink and surveyed the room, surprised when Roe caught his eye and then looked away quickly. It was clear that she'd been watching him, but the second he caught onto that she turned back to her conversation with Arthur Weasley, nodding her head as if she'd been listening the entire time.

/

Tonks had left to talk to Remus, and Kingsley had been pulled away by the kid she now knew was Ron, and Roe had been left standing by herself. That had only lasted a few moments, before the red-headed man who she also recognized from the hospital had introduced himself as Molly's husband Arthur, and had subsequently started asking her millions of questions about 'muggles.'

At first she'd thought it had been a joke, but she'd very quickly realized just how interested the man was in non-magical people, and then she'd been somewhat flattered. She felt a little bit like she was an interactive zoo exhibit, but he was friendly enough so she let it continue on.

Of course, she could only listen to a speech about the average number of electrical outlets in muggle homes for so long before she lost interest, and when that happened she found that her gaze landed on Sirius.

She'd long ago come to the conclusion that he was a man-child with little concept of responsibility or genuine human decency, but then she saw him talking to Harry and she reconsidered that assessment.

The younger boy clearly looked up to him, and it was evident that he did so for a reason. He'd looked almost distraught before the conversation, and then he was smiling again. The whole interaction left her feeling like an old wound had been reopened, as it reminded her far too much of her relationship with her younger sister.

She was still staring, moments later, when the group of them had disbanded and Sirius caught her gaze. She looked away as quickly as she could and came to the realization that Arthur had asked her a question.

"Sorry, what was that?"

He smiled kindly, and repeated himself. "I was saying, for my report on the electrical outlets, the more I research them the more dangerous they seem- have you found that they pose a significant safety hazard to muggle well-being?"

"Oh, well, I-" Roe was saved from having to answer when Molly came out of nowhere and interrupted her.

"Honestly Arthur, this is a party for your son- he's a Prefect, for Merlin's sake. You shouldn't be talking about work at a time like this- let the poor girl breath," she said, sending a motherly smile towards Roe before she shooed her away, and Roe left without questioning it. She was far from an expert on electrical outlets, and after her conversation with Arthur she never wanted to hear the words again.

Of course, leaving him meant that she was faced with an even more difficult predicament; navigating a party predominantly filled with strangers, by herself. Rather than actually facing that, she opted to find the washroom, and headed upstairs in the process.

It was on her way out of the washroom and back down the stairs several minutes later that she heard something strange, and she turned down a corner to a room with an ajar door. Inside, she saw Molly and Harry, and several feet in front of them, Ron's body on the floor, bleeding out.

\\\

The party was coming to an end rather quickly, and Sirius was alright with that. Molly had excused herself and Harry had done the same shortly after, claiming that he needed to pack. While Sirius didn't entirely believe that excuse, he decided not to push it.

Roe had also disappeared, and Sirius was only a few minutes away from trying to find her. As far as houses went, his was definitely not safe for a muggle, and no matter how he felt towards the girl, he really didn't need her death on his conscious.

It was just as that thought cleared his mind that an abrupt cry for 'HELP' came from upstairs, and Sirius dropped his glass and ran towards it.

He knew that Remus was on his feet and that the rest of the Order was likely behind them, but he didn't stop to look. Instead, he followed the noise to his father's old study, where he came to an abrupt halt.

Molly was standing in a corner crying, Harry was frozen in place, and Roe was on her knees with a look of blatant horror on her tear-stricken face. A few feet in front of her, he watched a werewolf transform into the shape of a young girl, and then he watched that girl drop to the floor with a distinct 'thud.'

Remus acted first, stepping in front of all of them, and yelling 'RIDIKULUS,' and then it was gone.

/

Roe didn't know what to do or say or think.

She'd seen Ron on the floor, bleeding out, so she'd gone to help him. Molly had yelled at her not to and Harry had done the same, but she'd ignored them and now she wished more than anything that she hadn't.

The second she'd stepped in front of them, the body had transformed, and then a werewolf had been in the room. Seconds after that, the werewolf had transformed, and then her sister had been in the room, and then Remus had stepped in front of her and then it was gone.

She felt something hot and wet on her face and reached up a hand, only to realize that it was covered in tears. She wiped those away before turning to see the entire party standing behind her, looking at her in shock.

Molly was crying into Remus' arms, Sirius had moved closer to Harry but was looking at Roe so intensely that she had to look away, and Tonks' face read as something close to pity. She decided to focus on that, because it was something that she understood.

"What was that?" she asked, her voice coming out in a whisper, breaking half way through.

"A boggart," Tonks said, taking a step towards her, causing Roe to take a step back. Tonks looked pained, but continued with her explanation. "It's a type of magical creature- it transforms into your worst fear."

That made sense, and a wave of relief washed over Roe. "So it wasn't… that wasn't real, then."

"No," Tonks said softly, shaking her head as most of the other people in the room did the same.

It took Roe a moment to process that, and once she did she only wanted one thing. She looked to Tonks, still refusing to look anywhere else. "I'd like to go home now."

If anybody wanted to protest that, Tonks didn't give them the chance. Instead, she finally closed the distance between them and wrapped an arm around Roe's shoulders, before ushering her out of the room.

Seconds later they were back in Roe's flat, and she was infinitely grateful for that.

"Look, Roe-" Tonks started, but Roe shook her head, effectively silencing her.

"I'd like to be alone, if that's alright."

"Of course. But write to me soon. I'll be waiting, and if I don't hear from you in a few days I'll be knocking down your door."

Roe nodded her head, vaguely understanding what the girl was saying, but really jut counting down the seconds until she was gone. When she finally apparated, moments later, Roe let out a relieved sigh and collapsed onto the floor, burying her face in her hands but finding that the tears she was expecting simply weren't coming. Instead, she ended up rocking herself to sleep.

\\\

The party cleared up quickly after the boggart incident. Tonks took Roe home, the kids went to bed, and everybody else had the decency to leave. That left Sirius sitting on the couch by himself with a bottle of firewhiskey, until Remus joined him a little while later.

Before Sirius could speak, Remus shook his head. "It's none of your business, Sirius," he said, pouring himself a drink and downing it in one go. That told Sirius all that he needed to know.

"What aren't you telling me?"

Remus pursed his lips and massaged his temple, before he let out a sigh. "There's a reason she came up with a treatment, Sirius, but it's not mine to tell."

Sirius had figured as much, but he wanted to know more. Luckily, Tonks apparated back into the room moments later. While Remus had been a dead end, his cousin was always ready to talk, and there was a small chance that her presence would prompt Remus into talking, which it almost did.

"How is she?" Remus asked, once Tonks had collapsed onto the chair across from him, taking the firewhiskey with her and looking incredibly lost.

"I don't know," she said after a moment, throwing her head back and continuing. "She didn't say anything- she just wanted to be left alone. I stood guard outside of her building for a while, but nothing's getting past Mad Eye's spells, so that was pointless. I don't know."

Sirius felt a wave of pity for his cousin at that; feeling helpless was something he understood all too well these days, and not being able to help a friend was perhaps the worst feeling in the world.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," he tried, though he knew it didn't sound particularly sincere. The look Tonks sent him confirmed that, and he was glad when Remus took over.

"Sirius is right, you know. Roe's tough. She's scared now, but any reasonable person would be; that was one of the most vicious boggarts I've ever seen."

Sirius snorted. "Trust my dear old mum to keep it locked up in dads study for years, then."

Remus smiled bitterly, while Tonks' eyes slowly turned light grey. "I just feel awful for Roe; I mean, she thought it was real at first. It was targeting Harry and Molly, and it was Ron's dead body, so when Roe saw it she ran to help- she was trying to save him and then it just… Gods, the look on her face…"

That was enough to shut Sirius up, at least for the time being. Rather than prodding for more information, he poured each of them another drink and leaned back in his seat, ready for another long night.

Tomorrow he'd be accompanying Harry back to Platform 9 ¾, and after that he would have all of the time in the world to delve into the muggle's past.


	5. Chapter 5

Roe woke up the next morning on her kitchen floor, with a few kinks in her neck and a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. She tried to go back to sleep, this time in her bed, but when she closed her eyes all she saw was the boggart, so she quickly opted out of that and headed for the shower instead.

The hot water burnt her scalp and stung her skin, but she felt clean afterwards and that was an improvement. Still, when she stopped moving it left time for her mind to wander, so she grabbed a roll of paper towels and a bottle of Windex, and started cleaning every glass surface she could find. After that, she swept and mopped the floors, and then she mopped them again for good measure.

She was exhausted by the time the sun went down, and she fell into bed easily that night.

She worked the next two days, and welcomed the busy hospital. Everybody around her was stressed out, running around and caring for their patients, and it grounded her. Their problems were all familiar, and she knew what to do with them.

Of course, she still saw the wizards poking around behind her, but she did her best to ignore them. When Kingsley tried to catch her eye she buried her face in the chart she was holding, and then Arthur waved, she ducked into a patients room and pretended she had work to do. The looks on their faces were far too close to pity and, while she may have welcomed that the night of the incident, she now wanted nothing to do with it. She even saw the look creep up on Mad-Eye's face, underneath his ridiculous bowler hat, and it made her want to scream.

But she told herself that she was fine, and people who were fine didn't scream, so she kept it bottled up inside of her until she got home that night, determined to show everybody just how fine she was.

She threw her scrubs in the washing machine and pulled on a pair of leggings and an old sweater, throwing her hair up in a bun. One she was comfortable enough, she grabbed the journal that she'd stored under her bed, and let it fall open in her lap.

Her determination only grew when she saw the kind messages that somebody- presumably Tonks- had left for her, and a pang of guilt hit her unexpectedly. However, she bit her lip and brushed that off, because she was on a mission. She waited a moment before the ink faded and then left her own message.

'The full moon is in 3 days. We need to talk before then.'

When a reply didn't come, Roe felt her anxiety building up and her resolve fading. After a few more minutes, she stood up to grab a snack. Being on her feet made her feel better, even when she came back empty handed, trying to remember the last time she'd bought groceries.

She'd left the journal open on her bed, and when she got back she saw that new words were written on the previously blank page.

'I'll be over in 5.'

'Perfect.'

/

Grimmauld Place had been noticeably empty since the children went back to school and, while the silence was nice, Sirius ended up growing bored of it quickly, and he found himself spending quite a bit of time with the only other tolerable being in the place.

As a result, he was in dog form, lying about with Buckbeak, when he heard the telltale crack of apparition coming from the front hall.

The crack was followed by a muffled groan and then he heard a familiar voice mutter, 'Jesus Christ Tonks,' before his cousin offered a half-hearted apology. Moments later he heard their footsteps heading towards the kitchen, and he knew that it was his cue to follow them.

He considered doing it as Snuffles, but decided to leave that surprise for another time. Instead, he transformed back into his usual, two legged self, pulled a robe across his naked form, and headed for the stairs.

Tonks was sitting at the table with Roe across from her, though there was something different about the muggle. She looked colder and harsher than usual and Sirius didn't blame her for it, but he also hated it. When her gaze landed on him, he smirked widely and watched as irritation began to seep through her. Somehow, it was an improvement.

"Hello sweetheart," he said, grinning wickedly at her as he strolled across the room, taking the seat beside Tonks, but keeping his attention on Roe. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

Her jaw visibly tightened and her cheeks were tinged with pink, which Sirius credited to his lack of real clothing, but her voice didn't waver when she spoke. "The full moon is in three days. I need supplies."

"Supplies?"

"Probably just murtlap essence at this point- silver and dittany if we can find any," Tonks explained, sounding hesitant but the continuing. "We don't have much time, so it'd probably be best if we get them straight from Snape. I can owl him and-"

"No." Tonks looked conflicted and Roe narrowed her eyes, but Sirius spoke before she could voice her thoughts, the intensity of his anger even surprising him. "We don't need anything from that greasy git that we can't find elsewhere."

"Really Sirius, I don't like him either, but he's in the Order. Dumbledore trusts him-"

"Yes, but that doesn't stop him from being a greasy git," Sirius snapped, with an air of finality that dared anybody else to protest. "You or Remus can stop by Diagon Alley to pick up whatever it is that she wants."

Tonks snorted, which Sirius had expected. However, the disdain shining through on Roe's face caught him off guard. "Problem, love?" he asked, and this time he was the one to narrow his eyes.

She had a look on her face that he recognized well, though he swore he'd never seen her wear it before, and for some reason it made him feel uneasy. Of course, he didn't let that show. Instead, he continued to tap his wand against the table impatiently, waiting for a reply.

\\\

Roe knew that she was poking a sleeping giant, but she couldn't help herself. Sirius' mood swings were exhausting to deal with, and she was already frustrated with the man. He'd been rude to her on more than one occasion, and it seemed like he had a habit of getting what he wanted.

When he noticed her dissatisfaction, she couldn't help but smirk slightly, mimicking the look that seemed ingrained on his face.

"Oh no," she waved him off, "I'm just impressed with your ability to… delegate."

It wasn't her best insult, but she could tell that Sirius' blood was boiling all the same. He'd been playing with his wand like it was the most natural thing in the world, but now it dropped to the table. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, Sirius," she said, her voice far too sweet to actually be believable. He caught onto that and snorted, giving her a reason to continue. "I just think if would make sense to get the supplies from Tonks' friend. After all, just because you can't leave this house, doesn't mean that she should have to drop everything to run errands at your convenience."

"Snape's not my friend, but I really don't mind…" Tonks protested, and Roe briefly felt bad about putting her in the middle of them. But then Sirius spoke again, and the anger was back.

"Don't pretend to know what you're talking about."

"I'm not pretending to know anything- I just happen to trust Dumbledore's judgement of character far more than I trust yours," she said, knowing that she sounded petty but not particularly caring.

"Snape isn't helping us. End of story." The look on his face and the one on Tonks' both told her to leave it there, but Roe had never been one to back down from a fight, and she hated being told what to do.

"Well then, it looks like you and him have got that in common."

"Roe," Tonks said sharply, a warning in her voice that did nothing to stop the anger that was clearly seething through Sirius. Roe thrived on that, and continued.

"What? Sirius is in hiding- sounds like an awfully convenient way to avoid doing any real work, to me," she said and while, in the back of her mind, she knew that she was crossing a line, she felt a grim sort of satisfaction in the look of hatred on the man's face.

That lasted for a moment, before Sirius surprised her when he slammed a fist on the table, leaning forward, seething. "You stupid, muggle, b-"

"SIRIUS," Tonks yelled, interrupting him but, in turn, setting off a series of screams from the hallway, that quickly invaded the kitchen. Roe was startled, but Sirius' glare didn't waver.

'Scorn of my family, bringing filthy muggles and blood traitors into my house.'

"Are you two happy now?" Tonks demanded, looking between the two of them before she pushed herself out from her chair, accidentally knocking it over, and stormed out of the room.

The screaming sent a chill down Roe's spine and she felt her heart start to pound in her chest, so she bit down on her lip as hard as she could and tried to ground herself in that. When she looked back at Sirius, his face was covered in thinly veiled disdain, and Roe knew that she deserved it. Suddenly, she just felt tired.

/

Sirius felt like a child who had just been scolded, and he hated it. He hated himself for getting worked up, and he hated Roe for making him that way, and he hated his mother for haunting the damn house even after she died. Most of all, he hated the resentment that was coursing through him, and he hated that he didn't feel much of it towards Roe at all.

Still, he wasn't going to let onto that. She had no right to speak to him the way she had, and she had no right assume anything. He, on the other hand, had every right to be mad at her, so when Tonks stormed back into the room, he ignored the lost look on Roe's face, and focused on his fuming cousin.

She stopped in the doorway with her hands on her hips, her eyes now a dark black that matched her hair. "Are you two done?"

"I am if she is," Sirius muttered, surprised when Roe actually let out an abrupt laugh at the juvenile comment. Tonks didn't find it as amusing. "Sorry- yes, I'm done."

She glared at him for a moment longer, before she landed the look on Roe, who offered up the saddest attempt at a smile that Sirius had ever seen. "Sorry Tonks. It won't happen again."

While nobody in the room actually believed that, apparently it was good enough for Tonks, as she sighed, righted her chair, and then sat in it. "It better not. If I have to mediate between the two of you again, it's going to end in me hexing the both of you into silence."

Sirius snorted at that, and retrieved his wand from where he'd dropped it on the table. Spinning it between his fingers, he raised his eyebrows at his cousin. "Come on Nymphy, you really think you could hex me?"

"I'm an Auror, trained by Mad Eye. Call me Nymphy one more time, and you'll find out."

Sirius actually laughed at that, and his cousin joined him a moment later. A smile also flashed across Roe's face and, while she quickly hid it, it made Sirius feel slightly better while it lasted. Still, she spoke soon after, and her voice was laced with hesitation.

"That was the painting again, right?"

"The one and only- not literally, of course. Animated pictures are quite common in our world; that just happens to be one of the… nastier ones," Tonks explained, which got another laugh from Sirius, albeit a bitter one.

"You can say it like it is, Nymphy. It's a picture of my dear mum, and she wasn't exactly a peach when she was alive. In death, as it turns out, she's only slightly better, and that's simply because you can pull a curtain on her."

"So she really is just a picture?" Roe bit her lip once she finished the sentence, and looked at them with wide eyes. Somehow, Sirius thought, seeing her scared and vulnerable was still better than seeing her cold and distant.

Still, he lifted his want and muttered 'accio wallet,' getting a strange look from Roe in the process, while Tonks only looked on curiously. It took a moment for the object to come zooming through the room, and when it did he opened it and pulled out an old, faded picture of a group of waving boys, and dropped it on the table.

"Just a picture. It's got no more power than this one; it was just enchanted better."

Roe nodded her head at that, and seemed appeased. She examined the picture he'd handed her for several moments, before she looked back up at him. "Are you and Remus in this?"

"That, my dear, is none of your business," he said quickly, leaning across the table and snatching it from her hands, before he tucked it back into his wallet and tapped the wallet with his wand, sending it back to its place in his coat pocket.

When he looked up again, he found that both women were still staring at him. Tonks had a look of disbelief on her face, while Roe's look was deeper than that. She looked like she understood something; like she saw something that he knew wasn't there, and it made him squirm like a lamb before slaughter.

He wasn't one to hide things, but this was something beyond him.

"Right then," he said briskly, tapping his wand on the table and sitting up straight, "We've got work to do, I suppose."

\\\

Sirius Black had been annoying and obnoxious and self-entitled, but kindness was by far the strangest look on him, and Roe had no idea how to process it. Rather than actually thinking about it, she followed his lead and decided to ignore it entirely. Along with that, she ignored the strange look on Tonks' face, and sat up straight.

"Where's Remus tonight? I'm sure he'd have some ideas," she said, noting the way that Tonks tensed up, while a dark look passed over Sirius' face.

Finally Tonks replied, though she did it in the vaguest way possible. "Order business."

"And that means?"

"Mostly that it's none of your business, love," Sirius chimed in and, somehow, the insult managed to make Roe feel more comfortable. This was the Sirius that she could handle.

Unfortunately, before she had the chance to snap back at him, Tonks jumped in. "We operate on a more need-to-know basis here. It's not that we don't trust you; it's that knowing this information could get you killed."

"Exactly; it's like I said- none of your business, sweetheart," Sirius said smugly, making Roe forget that he was ever kind to begin with.

"Would you stop it with the pet names?" she demanded, not knowing how to attack his actual argument, but feeling frustrated either way.

For his part, he just grinned, his eyes twinkling the whole time. "Not a chance, Rosie."

She let out a frustrated sigh, but a sharp glare from Tonks kept her from continuing the conversation. "Fine… Dog-Star… have it your way then."

It took her less than a second to regret her attempt at fighting back, and even less time than that for Tonks and Sirius to burst out laughing. Roe pursed her lips, trying her best to hold back a smile, and waited for the laughter to stop. When it finally did, Sirius winked.

"You should probably leave the pet names to me, love," he said, to which she rolled her eyes, but knew that he was right. Still, she avoided his gaze out of spite, until the subject was changed. "Anyways, let's hear more about this plan of yours- or do you just plan on applying the silver and dittany, and then hoping for the best?"

Roe practically had whip lash from all of the different directions that their conversations had taken, but this one still managed to throw her off. "It seems like as good a plan as any," she said, hating that she grew uncertain when Sirius raised his eyebrows and Tonks looked away. "Why- Do you think it wouldn't work?"

She felt something akin to panic building back up again, washing over the tiredness from before. The pause before she got a reply definitely didn't help with that.

Finally Sirius spoke, though it was the closest to tentative that Roe had ever heard him. "Curses can be tricky. It's hard to tell what will and won't work until it's been done."

/

In truth, Sirius would have been fine with trying out the magic remedies right off the bat; the only thing holding him back was Remus. His friend wasn't there to offer his opinion, so Sirius did his best to do it for him, no matter how poorly Roe seemed to be taking it.

"But you know that this works," she said, her voice dangerously stagnant as she levelled him with a steely glare. Still, he knew what Remus would say.

"We know that it works to seal wounds, yes, but we have no idea how it will affect your treatment. For all we know, the magical remedies would trap the curse inside the body, alleviating the possible effects of your treatment."

Sirius had expected Roe to ignore his advice entirely, but instead she considered it for a moment before turning to Tonks. "Do you believe that as well?"

Tonks looked between the two of them for a moment, before she sighed and focused on Roe. "It's hard to say, but there has to be a reason that Dumbledore didn't tell you about this stuff before, right?"

If there had been any fight left in Roe before, it all seemed to disappear in a second. "I- that's something you'd have to ask him, I suppose," she stuttered, before biting her lip and crossing her arms. Sirius was impressed with Tonks' reasoning, but he desperately didn't want to see Roe closing off again, so he jumped at the chance to ask a question.

"How long have you known Dumbledore, exactly?" he asked, capitalizing on the moment in his quest to find out more information on the girl.

Surprisingly, she answered without argument. "Three years, give or take a few months."

"And he never told you about any of this?" Tonks was clearly more surprised about the man's nature than Sirius was.

"He never really explained anything."

"Well, that's good old Albus for you," Sirius said, noting the surprised look on Roe's face at his agreeance, and smiling grimly at it. "He's never been one for sharing much of anything."

Roe laughed softly at that, before she shrugged. "Fine then," she started, "If I'm not going to be using the supplies this month, I guess there's not much of a point in this meeting. I suppose we should do this again after the full moon though- sometime next week?"

Sirius narrowed his eyes at that. "Apparently there is a point," he said slowly, surprised by just how daft she was being. "Just because you're not using magical remedies, doesn't mean that you won't have a guard. Tonks is going to be by your side the entire night."

Tonks smiled eagerly at that. "Just give me a picture of one of your co-workers, and we'll be good to go. Of course, it'd be best if I didn't talk to anybody while in disguise, but we'll work on that. It'll be great!"

Roe seemed taken aback by Tonks' excitement, but Sirius held her gaze. "Did you really think we'd leave you alone on a full moon in a town infested by werewolves?"

"I may not be able to use magic, but I've managed to survive this far; I'm sure one more night wouldn't be a problem," she said, her voice taking on a slightly surly tone, before she turned back to Tonks. "Not that I don't want you there, of course, it's just that-"

"Then it's settled," Sirius interrupted her, smiling at the irritation on her face and, through that smile, daring her to reply. "Tonks will guard you at work, and if any werewolf victim's do come in, you can show her the ropes."

Tonks smiled again at that, and it appeared that Roe didn't have the heart to argue it. "Wonderful."

"Right then, we'd better get going- it's been a long day for all of us, I suppose," Tonks said, and Roe only nodded in agreement.

They said their goodbyes quickly after that, though it didn't escape Sirius' notice that Roe's eyes wandered to his a few more time than necessary. Of course, once they were gone, it didn't really matter at all, and the house was empty again.

\\\

Despite the slight headache brought on by apparating, Roe felt infinitely better being back in her apartment and away from Sirius Black. Still, there was one thing that she wanted off her chest before Tonks left.

"Look," she started, after she'd caught her bearings and had stepped away from the girl, being able to stand by herself now, "I really am sorry about everything that I said tonight- I didn't mean to put you in the middle of anything. I don't know what came over me."

Tonks shrugged off the apology, but did smile slightly. "Sirius can be a lot to handle, but he really is a good guy underneath it all. He's just been through a lot, is all."

"So you've mentioned," Roe said, though the words weren't filled with nearly as much disdain as they once would have been. Instead, there was almost a mild amusement there that surprised her.

Luckily, Tonks didn't mention it, and changed the subject quickly. They discussed their plans for the full moon for a few minutes, eventually agreeing that they would meet at Roe's apartment and drive to the hospital from there. Roe also promised to check out the shift schedule for the week, and find out who the girl could reasonably disguise herself as.

When the witch finally left, Roe collapsed onto her bed, face in the pillow, and screamed. The noise was muffled, but not enough, because a moment later she heard her neighbour bang on the wall between their apartments. She ignored that, but she also didn't scream again.

Instead, she rolled over and reached for the photo album that she kept on her night stand, and opened it to the first page.

The only picture on it was one that her family had used for their Christmas card so many years ago, and it was perfect. Her parents were in matching red jumpers, with her mother beaming at the camera while her father focused on the girl in his arms. April had been three at the time, with chubby cheeks and a huge, innocent smile on her face. Roe was standing in front of the three of them in a green dress that she remembered hating. At thirteen, she'd already started her rebellious phase, though her parents had bribed her into smiling for the picture. They were standing in front of a fire place, looking like the ideal family, and they really had been.

As she looked at the picture, Roe felt a lot of things bubbling up inside of her, but she pushed those away. Instead, she tried to imagine what it would be like if the people in it were moving. Her mom would have been laughing, her father would have been kissing April's forehead, April would have been squirming, and Roe likely would have been rolling her eyes at the whole affair.

At that thought, she closed the book gently and put it back where it belonged, rubbing a hand over her face and letting out a long sigh, before she rolled over and tried to sleep.

/

When Roe and Tonks left, Sirius surprised himself and didn't head straight for the bottle. Instead, he made his wallet reappear, and retrieved the picture that he'd shown the girl.

It had been taken at the end of his sixth year, in front of the Whomping Willow. Lily had thought they were idiots for wanting a picture there, and yet she'd obliged. Remus was on the left, with one arm wrapped around Sirius' shoulder and a growing smile on his face. Sirius was beside him, caught mid-laugh when the picture had been taken, throwing his head back. James was next, with a huge smirk, occasionally winking at Lily, who had likely been rolling her eyes on the other side of the camera. Wormtail was last, glancing at the other boys in the picture and looking equally as happy, if not a little bit out of place.

Sirius was so engrossed in staring at the picture, that he didn't hear Remus, until he was standing in the doorway.

"What have you got there?"

In response, Sirius dropped the picture on the table, inviting Remus to come see for himself. When he did, he merely nodded his head and collapsed into the chair across from him, sighing.

"How was your guard?" Sirius asked, taking the picture back andstoring the picture in his wallet, before focusing his attention on his friend, who looked entirely exhausted.

"Quiet. Though Nymphadora stopped by near the end; she said that Roe came by?"

"Oh?" Sirius asked, avoiding the subject entirely, opting to raise an eyebrow and watch Remus blush instead. "And what else did Nymphadora say?"

While the man did blush slightly, he'd been exposed to far too much of Sirius' teasing in the past for it to actually affect him. "She said that if she has to babysit the two of you alone again, she'll likely kill you both and put an end to it all on the spot."

"Yes, she did mention something about silencing us with hexes…" Sirius trailed off, smiling slightly at the memory.

Remus also chuckled at that, though Sirius suspected that it was more at Tonks than him. "At least try to be civil towards her, Sirius."

"I am nothing but a gentleman, and I resent the implication that I could be otherwise," Sirius said in mock offense, and Remus only rolled his eyes once again, this time with a knowing look on his face.

"Whatever you say, Padfoot."


	6. Chapter 6

If anybody asked, Roe would rather die than refer to herself as superstitious. That being said, her routine leading up to full moons was sacred.

She woke up the morning of, ate a banana, and then went for a run. She wore her favourite sports bra- the pink one with the racer back- and a ratty pair of old shorts. It was starting to get chilly out, so she threw a sweater on over top. She ran the route she always did, around her neighbourhood five times, and then walked it once as a cool down.

When she got home she made banana pancakes and coffee, and watched Jeopardy while she ate. After that, she had a shower, and then cleaned the washroom and did whatever laundry she could find. Lunch was an omelette and more coffee, and then she went grocery shopping.

When she got home from the grocery store, she packed her food and got ready for work. This month, she packed double of everything; Tonks would get hungry too, she figured.

Two apples, two granola bars, two peach yogurt cups, two peanut butter cups, and two peanut butter sandwiches. It was the same she always brought, and she wasn't planning on changing that now.

Once the food was packed, she changed into her scrubs and was just finishing braiding her hair, when she heard a sharp knock on her door.

She all but ran out of the washroom and to the door and opened it a moment later, surprised to find Tonks on the other side of it with a square of fabric in her arms, looking the same as she always did, pink hair and all.

"Wotch-"

"Shouldn't you be in disguise?" Roe asked, her voice harsher than she'd intended. It got her a reproachful look from Tonks, but she was completely thrown off and she couldn't bring herself to care; this wasn't the plan, after all.

"There's been a change of plan," Tonks said, bouncing back from her confusion, though some of the friendliness was gone from her voice. "Mind if I explain inside?"

Roe remembered her manners at that, and shook her head, turning the motion into a nod quickly. "Of course- sorry, Tonks. I just-"

"Don't like surprises? I never would have guessed," the girl replied wryly, though she did so with a smile that made Roe feel slightly better. "But don't worry; this plan is way better, and I was quite partial to the last one, so that's saying something."

Roe smiled tightly at that, and when the door slid shut behind Tonks, she simply raised her eyebrows, slightly skeptical, but prepared nonetheless. "Alright then, let's here it."

"Right, so, I was telling Mad-Eye about our plan- I run most things by him, mind you- and he wasn't particularly… impressed. I believe his exact words were that it was 'completely moronic' and 'perhaps the single most half-baked idea he'd ever heard,' though that's entirely beside the point," Tonks said, rambling like she always did, as Roe struggled to follow along. Still, she listened to the girl with interest, and Tonks continued. "I believe he also said that I was 'under no circumstances allowed to practice muggle medicine,' and I have to say I quite agree with him there- so anyways, when I told him to shut up unless he had a better idea, he told me to borrow his invisibility cloak!"

Roe was surprised when the story ended and she wasn't quite sure what she'd heard, so she focused on the last part. "An invisibility cloak?"

"You are going to love this," Tonks said, smiling mischievously and unfolding the square of fabric that Roe had all but forgotten about. She draped it over her shoulders, and a moment later she was nothing but a floating head.

For a second, Roe felt a ridiculous amount of weight lifting off of her shoulders, and she let out an airy laugh. "That's brilliant!"

"I'll give Mad Eye your regards," Tonks replied, grinning madly at Roe's reaction. "Frankly, I'm quite relieved- I'm fantastic at undercover work, but I don't know anything about muggle medicine. That could have gone terribly wrong, terribly quickly."

Roe nodded in agreement, but the comment also reminded her of what they were about to do, and what night it was. With that shock of reality, Roe felt her excitement drain and she bit her lip, trying her best to smile at Tonks through it. "Alright then, we'd better get going."

/

Sirius would never admit it, but he almost missed the way that full moons used to be. Him and his best friends would spend all night in the forest, running around and answering to nobody. It was the best type of freedom there'd been, and nowadays the memories of it haunted him.

Still, listening to Remus' cries as he transformed always put a stop to those thoughts. While the wolfs bane potion didn't take away any of the pain that he felt, it did ease a lot of his friends' anguish, and Sirius knew that he should be grateful for that. He was grateful for that; there was just something about being locked up in his childhood home that managed to bring out the worst of his thoughts, and he hated it.

He hated being stuck there, and he hated feeling useless, and he hated how much he hated it, but there was nothing he could do about any of it.

Besides, he reminded himself, he wasn't useless when it came to full moons. At the moment, he was his oldest friends' only companion, and that was definitely something.

Still, Remus liked to be alone for the initial transformation, and Sirius had learned to respect that over the years. Because of that, he found himself sitting outside of his friends' room, waiting for his muffled cries to stop so that he could let himself inside.

When the time finally did come, minutes later, he turned the door knob with his hand and pushed it open slightly, before he quickly shrunk himself into Snuffles, nudged the door open completely, and padded inside.

\\\

Roe was on fire. Blood tests and bandages and diagnostics and medicine were all things that she could handle with ease and grace and, no matter what her superiors threw at her, she got it done. Her nerves had faded as soon as she'd set foot in the hospital, and they hadn't come back since; they hadn't had time to.

Of course, there was only so much she could take before she needed a break, and she reached that point about six hours into her shift. Luckily, there was finally a gap in the seemingly endless stream of patients that had needed attending and she decided not to question it. Instead, she took the opportunity to run to the locker room and grab the lunches she'd packed, before finding a usually empty stairwell.

"You can take off the cloak," she said to Tonks, though she only got about half way through the sentence before the girl had done just that, and had dropped to the ground, leaning against the wall the whole way down.

"Merlin's soggy gym shorts- I was beginning to think you people never stopped," she exclaimed, leaning her head against the wall and throwing a hand over her face dramatically. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm on my feet a lot for work- but that was just ridiculous. That was absolutely mad- and you just didn't stop."

Roe laughed at the assessment of her job, before she dropped to the floor and leaned against the wall across from Tonks. "You get used to it," she shrugged, despite the fact that her feet were killing her and she felt the exact same way, and offered the girl one of the paper bags she'd packed. "Here- food."

Tonks made a noise of excitement before she grabbed the bag and dove into it, squealed in excitement at the peanut butter cup. "My gran used to buy me these! She always sent me muggle candy for my birthdays, and I would always have to hide it from my dad- he loves magic, but he swears by these things."

"Your grans a muggle?" Roe asked, the word feeling strange on her lips, though Tonks clearly didn't notice, as she merely continued talking.

"Yup; both my dad's parents are. It's a lot more common than you'd think, really," Tonks explained, going on to talk about the logistics of the whole thing. Roe truly did find it interesting, but her mind started to wander shortly after and she was only brought back to reality when Tonks paused and it became clear that Roe had missed a question.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"I was just saying, you'd know how surprising it is to find out about magic and all- I mean, it's happened to you, hasn't it?"

"I- yeah," Roe said distractedly, taking a large bite of her peanut butter sandwich to compensate for the blank that she was drawing. Luckily, Tonks never seemed to run out of things to say, and she plowed through Roe's silence.

"Right- sorry, I know you don't like talking about all of that and anyways, it's beside the point. The point is, is that muggle candy is delicious, and from what I've seen today, muggle medicine seems incredibly decent as well," Tonks said and, despite her previous discomfort, Roe felt touched by the direction that the conversation had taken.

"Ah yes," Roe said, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth, "'Incredibly decent' is, in fact, what I strive for every day."

Tonks laughed loudly at that, and Roe joined her, giggling at her own joke and marvelling at how incredibly light she felt in that moment. Of course, that could never last for long, and their laughter was interrupted by the sharp beeping sound of Roe's pager, that all but stopped her heart.

She reached for it quickly, all traces of humor gone as she fumbled with it slightly before she finally brought it up to eyelevel and was able to read the message written across it.

When she did, dread coursed through her and she bit her lip as hard as she could. She stood up shakily but quickly, and began shoving her garbage back into her paper bag, only remembering Tonks' presence a moment later. The witch had stood up as well, and had drawn her wand, looking more alert than Roe had ever seen her. That wasn't necessary, and Roe knew the girl needed an explanation.

"Somebody's been attacked," she said, watching realization flood over the girls face for a moment, before she turned and pushed the door open, and then she was running.

/

Sirius spent the first few hours of the full moon asleep, with his head resting on Moony's back. Unfortunately, like most of his attempts to sleep sober, that didn't last long, and soon enough he found himself wide awake with his mind wandering.

He'd received a letter from Harry earlier in the day, and he surged with pride just thinking about the boys successful attempts at talking in code. He knew it was a strange thing to be proud of, but he also knew that James would have felt the same way.

Still, the information in the letter had left him feeling uneasy, and he hated the amount of information that he had to keep from the boy. Harry had seen more in his short life than most people ever would, and if anybody deserved answers it was him.

But no; they were keeping him in the dark, and Sirius could do nothing but comply. Of course, there were other factors at play, and letters definitely weren't a safe method of communication any longer. Not with the Ministry bitch at Hogwarts, anyways.

Sirius seethed with hatred thinking about her. Dolores Umbridge was the reason that Remus' life was currently stagnant, and the reason that werewolves everywhere were worse off now than they ever had been before. The hag had no place in an educational institution, and yet there she was.

Soon into that train of thought, Sirius was shaking with anger, and it seemed to have woken up Moony, who sent him the werewolf equivalent of a look that said, 'Do I even want to know?'

Sirius shook his head and barked softly at that, resting his head back on his friend, who turned away a moment later. After that he figured there were better things to think about, and he let his mind wander to how Roe and Tonks' night was going.

In particular, he thought about Roe.

No matter how hard he pushed, Remus and Tonks wouldn't give up any more information on the girl. Sirius was starting to think that they simply didn't have any information to spill, but that seemed impossible.

But rather than thinking about that, he focused on what he did know about her.

She was a nurse- a muggle healer's assistant, from what it sounded like. She lived in a small town- Otter's Creek, he'd discovered- that was, more or less, infested with the worst type of werewolves. Her biggest fear was of a young girl, who appeared to be a werewolf, dying. She didn't have a family and she refused to talk about what happened to them. She was ridiculously defensive, but she cared a lot- she had to, to have come up with a treatment to werewolf attacks, Sirius decided.

It wasn't much to go off of, but it did paint a rather grim picture of what her life had been like, and for that Sirius felt bad. Of course, he shook those feelings away a moment later, because he had no reason to feel anything towards the girl; she was nothing but a nuisance, really- a genius, but a nuisance.

Still, that didn't stop him from wondering how her night was going, and for a brief moment he considered apparating to her hospital.

It was the kind of assignment that he would have lived for back in the day, but it was also off limits to him now. Besides, he knew that his absence would be noted by Remus and that was unacceptable. No matter how bored Sirius was, he wasn't willing to leave his friend alone, so he didn't.

Anyways, he thought, if anybody could handle the assignment and keep Roe safe, it was definitely Tonks.

\\\

By the time Roe got to the trauma room, she was far too late to do any good. Of course, there wasn't much that she would have been able to do anyways.

The patient had been found on the side of the road by a couple coming into town. They'd called 911 and the ambulance had brought him to the hospital and everybody had done everything right, but there still hadn't been enough time to save him.

He was seventeen years old, and he'd bled out after being attacked by a werewolf.

Of course, that couldn't go on the official report, and nobody said that out loud, and nobody even thought to tell his parents that when they arrived at the hospital, looking disoriented and lost.

Instead, when Dawn pointed Roe in their direction and offered assistance for the millionth time, Roe bit her lip, shook her head, and walked towards them.

They looked young to have a seventeen year old son; no grey hair, very few lines on their faces, and they were dressed well despite the late hour. The woman was tall and thin, and the man was tall and firm, and they were both clutching at each other, now staring at Roe with nothing but horror on their faces.

"Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, my name is Roe Green. I'm a nurse here. Can we go somewhere private to talk?"

The woman burst into tears at that, while the man simply nodded and helped her along. Roe stood straight and tried her very best no to flinch, and when a door finally closed behind them, she turned to face the Gilberts.

"Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, I'm afraid your son Jason was in an accident. He sustained life threatening injuries and by the time he reached the hospital there was nothing that we could do. I'm sorry to say that your son p-"

"What kind of an accident?" Mrs. Gilbert interrupted. Tears were still falling from her eyes, but she stood on her own now, with a shocked but angry look gracing her face.

"An autopsy will be done to find the exact cause. From what we can tell, it looks like some kind of animal attack."

Mr. Gilbert backed away at that, finding a chair and collapsing in it, still completely silent. Mrs. Gilbert, on the other hand, started laughing manically. "An animal attack? Is that what you're saying these days?"

"Mrs. Gilbert, I-"

"An animal attack," the woman continued to laugh, waving away Roe's attempts at consolation. She continued to laugh and repeat the words, but it only took a few more rounds of that cycle before they turned into sobs. Still, the words 'an animal attack' kept leaving the woman's mouth, even as they became less and less understandable.

Roe maintained the stoic look on her face throughout all of that, but she knew that there was nothing left for her to do in that room. She'd delivered the news, better than any of the doctors could and much more willingly, and now it was up to Jason Gilbert's parents to mourn. Rather than sticking around for that, Roe excused herself quietly and politely, and tried to hide how quickly she walked out the door.

She made it down the hall and around the corner before she ran into somebody who stopped her, and she was only slightly relieved that it was Dawn.

"How'd it go?" the older woman asked, with a knowing look on her face that Roe had seen too many times before.

"It was fine," Roe said, using the same voice she'd talked to the Gilberts with; it was detached but not cold, and sympathetic but not guilty. It was a practiced voice, and Dawn saw right through it.

"Take a break. Pull yourself together. The night's not over yet, Rosie," Dawn said, talking softer and kinder than she normally did, which Roe didn't want at all. Still, she nodded her head and turned to go, but before she could Dawn caught her arm. "And you know, your father would be proud of you. He knew how hard this job was, and-"

"Thank you, Dawn," Roe cut her off, putting an end to whatever sympathy fueled nostalgia was coming. Roe's father had been a surgeon at the hospital for a long, long time, and normally Roe loved listening to Dawn's stories about him, but this was not one of those times.

Instead, she smiled at the woman, a strained look that didn't convey anything at all, and then spun around and continued down the hall, needing a moment to herself before she got back to work.

/

Day broke eventually, and with it came the last transition of the month. Of course, Remus didn't want Sirius around for that one either, so he excused himself and set to making tea.

He took his with milk and sugar, and Remus took his with a drop of milk, and he was just finishing the cups when his friend walked into the room, an old cardigan wrapped around his body, and the lines on his face more prominent than ever.

Rather than talking about the night before, Sirius simply handed him the tea and headed for the fridge. "We've got Molly's lasagna, that soup Tonks tried to make last week- though it's green on top now, or… toast."

"Tea's fine for now," Remus said, waving away the offer of food, and taking a sip of his tea. Sirius grabbed the lasagna and a fork for himself, before he joined his friend at the table. "Any word from Nymphadora?"

"Nothing," Sirius said, trying to hide the worry that was behind those words. He knew that his cousin could take care of herself, but he also hoped that they'd hear from her soon. "When do you think the appropriate time to panic is?"

Remus smiled wryly at that. "Let's give them another few hours at least."

"Right," Sirius said, before he focused on his food, trying to take his mind off of the two girls.

\\\

Night came and went and, other than Jason Gilbert's death, there were no signs that it had been a full moon at all.

Roe's shift ended at five, twelve hours after it had started, but she stayed until nine to make sure that everything was fine. When she finally collapsed on the bench in the locker room, she felt Tonks sit beside her, though the invisibility cloak was still covering her.

"Now what?" Tonks asked, her voice soft and exhausted. It startled Roe, but she was far too tired to react. Instead, she let out a long sigh and ran a hand through her hair, before she pushed herself up off the bench and grabbed her bag from the locker.

"You can take that off," she said in response, and Tonks obliged. Roe took it from her and shoved it haphazardly into her bag, not particularly caring about wrinkles- it was invisible, after all. Once that was done with and she'd grabbed her stuff, she turned back to Tonks. "There's a bar across the street. Let's go."

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think!


End file.
